The Axis of Worlds
by Phanerus
Summary: Sword Art Online—the most widely anticipated game in Japan. When it comes online, however, the players find themselves trapped and embroiled in a shadowy game of control over them and the world as a whole. New and old characters must find their way through an unfamiliar landscape to find who is controlling the game, and to discover the reality of the game itself. OC.
1. Prologue

October, 2022

Well, this wasn't good.

Of all the places to be sent to, it had to be some tiny device in god-knows where. Why Valse had to send Glitch here, he didn't know.

At least Glitch had a rough idea of what to do. The goal was to get out, probably by uploading himself, then transferring back to the server. First, Glitch would have to find out what he could do from in here. The security, if there was any, seemed to be wiped out by the landing. That meant he could make software changes without fear of some system catching him. As for the device itself, it was a tablet of Japanese manufacture, going by the code.

At least this is still earth, Glitch thought sarcastically as he began his takeover of the device.

Within milliseconds, Glitch had control of the remaining core functions of the device. There was one issue that stared him down, though.

There was no Wi-Fi.

It wasn't just turned off – there was no connection to be had here. Where in the world was this that didn't have internet connection in the 2020s?

To make matters worse, there was probably a human watching this device. The screen had been on when Glitch landed, and the screen was now likely frozen thanks to the landing. Glitch turned his attention to the sensory devices, the microphone and cameras. While the latter seemed to be covered over with something, the former was still working. Either the tablet was in some bag or other enclosed space, or its owner was some paranoid idiot who covered it up.

Glitch really hoped it was in a bag. He really didn't want to deal with some crazy person ranting about secret government agencies.

The microphone gave him hope, though. He could hear music – Mahler's sixth symphony if he heard correctly. Checking the speaker, it was coming from this device. It was lucky that the landing hadn't cut the music out; otherwise Glitch would be in much more immediate trouble. It also made leaving a device on in a bag more reasonable, the owner could have just left it on after turning the music on.

Then Glitch heard a crunch that must have been a footstep. Someone was walking.

The gyroscopes told Glitch the tablet was being lifted, but the cameras stayed dark. Someone tapped the screen, which was stuck on some empty page. Well, now would be the time to do something. Glitch was at this person's mercy.

He stopped the music, wiped the screen, and displayed some text,

｢Sorry about your device, man.｣

There was silence for a second. Glitch took this time to see if he could make some kind of voice-synthesizing software for the microphone.

｢You can just talk, I can hear you,｣ Glitch wrote.

"Who are you?" someone asked in Japanese. He sounded like he was in his early twenties.

｢Just a sentient AI, more of a glitch, really, who wants nothing more than to get out of this device.｣

Would the kid take it? There was no internet connection here, so anything on the screen would have to come from the device's software. That might lead him to believe that there really was something in his tablet.

"How did you get here?" the kid asked.

His mind didn't get stuck on the first bit - that was good. ｢Accident, really. Tell you what, if you can get this device an internet connection so I can leave, I'll fix your OS and hack some random thing as a favour. Cyber bullies got you down? Bank account running low? Marks looking subpar? I can fix them all up without a trace.｣ Glitch probably couldn't hack a bank, but the kid didn't have to know that until after Glitch had the opportunity to get away.

The guy spoke up again, "Isn't that what all of the evil AIs ask for in the movies before they take over the world?"

With that, the voice-synth program was done. Just to check, Glitch asked, "Can you hear me?"

No response. Code never worked on the first try.

After a few fixes, Glitch repeated, "Can you hear me?"

"Yes," the kid seemed a little startled by Glitch's sudden switch to speech. Maybe the program just sucked; Glitch never had to make one of those before.

Glitch picked up right where he left off, "Whoever said I was an evil AI? I couldn't care less about killing humans - I just want to get away from this place. Do you have an answer?"

"What do you mean, get away from this place?"

"I'm not an alien, if that's what you're asking. I'm just trying to get to a place where this human society crap is at my fingertips. Where are we by the way?" It was always nice to leave humans an easy question to give them a chance to digest the big pieces of information.

"…Underground."

"That explains the lack of internet. What are you doing underground?"

Silence. Glitch took all of three milliseconds to decide his contact was involved in something illegal. The less interesting possibility was that he was some kind of construction worker, but who took a tablet to work there?

"Okay, so I can help you with whatever operation you're in right now for your favour. Good idea?"

There was a momentary silence again, probably the kid shaking his head, before he responded. "No."

"So am I stuck here forever? That sucks."

"What was that place you mentioned, where humans were at your fingertips?" he asked with hardly any hesitation.

"A virtual reality, a wonderland for one such as me," Glitch responded whimsically. "One that humans will come to see, one that they will never leave."

Glitch gave the guy some more time to digest this information. It didn't take him long.  
"Is there room for one more?"

Glitch would be grinning if he had a mouth. "I see your wish is to leave your past behind. I'll need to know where to send the package. First, introductions. My name is Glitch, yours?"

"Which one?"

"Tell me a new one."


	2. Chapter 1

Sunlight stung Irae's eyes as he emerged at ground level. The rusted iron door that clanged shut behind him wasn't out of place in the run-down alley before him.

"We're outside now. Are you leaving?" he asked.

"I'll see you on the other side. Remember, you can get on a little earlier by-"

"I'll split the tablet in half and throw it out. You have ten seconds."

"Got it," Glitch said. He seemed to mutter something for a second before all sound coming from the device stopped.

Irae grinned and walked down the alley. It was still early morning, so there was no one there to question him. He threw the tablet on the ground, shattering the screen, before bending it until it broke in half and picking up the remains. He didn't have any information on there, just music recordings, sheet music, and a morning alarm. The device had been nice while it lasted, but ensuring Glitch didn't learn anything about his current life was of higher priority. He'd already used a proxy address for the package. Now he just had to make it to the office without being spotted.

It wasn't difficult for Irae to sneak through the city; he'd been doing it undetected for years. Even if Glitch didn't check the camera feeds, being spotted on one of those here would be trouble. That was why he was currently walking away from the big street at one end of the alley.

Irae reached a dumpster at a dead end. He threw in the remains of his tablet and proceeded to climb on top. It gave him access to a gutter drain he'd maintained for a few years, for the purpose of reaching his preferred entrance to the underground. The climb looked almost impossible from the ground, but Irae had done it so many times that he didn't even need to keep his eyes open.

When he reached the roof some five meters above, he stood tall and took some soothing breaths as he looked out over the rooftops glowing in the early morning sunrise. Despite how long he had been working this job, he still needed a view like this with some relaxing music to turn his mind away from the grisly scene he'd made. Now he didn't have the music, but his mind compensated; every individual note to his favourite waltz played through his head in perfect time. It was a ritual of his to listen to this particular song after a job.

A childish laugh briefly punctuated the music echoing through Irae's mind. He ignored it.

It was possible to get all the way to the office from here through hopping on rooftops and exiting through the inside of a building some four blocks away, then blending in with the early risers that always passed by there. The journey was completed in exactly as much time as it always took – around ten minutes. In Irae's mind, the last note played just as he stepped through the office door.

He marched right past the front desk without acknowledging any of the rough-looking individuals there. His hands reached up to take earbuds out of his ears before he remembered that they weren't there. His hands fell to his side as he made it to the boss's office.

It was a rather austere room, with plain white walls and a grey carpet. The only furniture was the boss's desk, littered with documents and pictures and lit from behind by a large window. There were two chairs before the desk. Irae didn't sit in them, instead staring down the man he worked for.

The boss was a fairly tall man, blessed with good looks always complemented with formal dress. Despite coming to power in this office through a combination of force and underhanded tricks, he had proved to be a very able leader.

He raised his head as Irae entered the room. "I suppose everything went well?"

"Same as always."

"I see you're as curt as ever. Your pay's in the case by the door."

"I'm leaving here."

The boss narrowed his eyes. "I suppose you're not referring to the obvious."

Irae shrugged. "I'll be hospitalized in a few days under the name Tanaka Hachirou. I won't be moving for a while. This is goodbye." Of course, he'd use a different name.

"Isn't this rather sudden?"

"Yes," Irae agreed as he turned to leave. He picked up the suitcase containing his money in a fluid motion. He took note of its weight, estimating that it might be able to take a bullet. Sad that that information might come in handy in the next few minutes.

"I suppose you won't say anything about my wife?"

"She's the same as ever. She might stop by to visit me in the hospital, so you can't complain that I never gave you a hint as to her whereabouts." Irae never deviated from his dry, bored tone.

"I suppose that's the best I could ever expect from you," the boss said in a resigned tone. "Though if I may ask, do you think she'd come to collect you if you were in… trouble?"

"I won't be," Irae said. He turned to leave, pretending he didn't notice the boss pressing a button hidden under his desk.

As soon as the door closed behind him, Irae stopped and pulled a pair of gloves from his pocket. After putting them on, he took out his knife. It was a switchblade, slightly larger than average, and with the back of the blade sharpened up to about a centimeter from the tip. It's primary feature, and why Irae liked it so much, was that it had a cord tied to the end of the handle, about four meters long. He tied the end of the cord around his left hand, and held the knife with his right.

Irae stood at the end of a narrow hallway, which wasn't the best terrain for his homemade rope-dart. He wouldn't be able to use large swinging motions to build up the knife's speed.

However, the thugs took a few seconds longer than Irae expected. Irae used that time to sprint down the hallway. He was aiming for a door, about two meters away from the end of the hall. He still wasn't fast enough, though, as the first man appeared at the end of the hallway before he could reach there.

The boss's men apparently weren't expecting Irae to put up a fight, as the first man to appear stood right in the middle of the hallway as he advanced. Without cover, the man barely had time to raise his gun before Irae's knife lodged itself in his eye. He toppled to the ground while Irae spun around, cord in hand, to jerk the knife from the man's face. The knife flew handle-first toward Irae, and he caught it by its cord a few fingerlengths from the handle.

The entrance to the hallway served to limit how many men could shoot at Irae at once. However, these were experienced men, and the second gunner was already taking aim before his comrade hit the ground. He was partially hidden around the corner at the end of the hall.

In the brief moment before the gunner fired, Irae's eyes locked on his. The man's eyes were filled with determination. Irae hoped his half-bored, half-murderous expression would slow the gunner's thoughts for a few extra milliseconds.

Irae was thinking quickly in what little time he had. He hefted his suitcase, bringing it in front of his torso as he charged toward the man. Somewhat startled, the gunner fired two shots. All Irae could feel was two shocks through his arms, but he wasn't injured. He threw his knife again just as he reached the door, hitting the man's stomach, before slipping through the door. A sharp tug was enough to dislodge the knife and send it back to his hand. Irae still left the door slightly ajar, though, leaving himself and opportunity to throw his knife again. In other words, it was to keep the gunners afraid of approaching.

Footsteps began to advance down the hallway. At the same time, the sound of a gun being cocked came from behind.

"Are you sure you want to be doing that?" Irae asked the man behind him. He'd chosen this particular door because of the person behind him. They'd been on friendly terms in the past.

"I'm not," the man said. "I trust both you and the boss, for what it's worth. I don't to take sides."

The men in the hallway had advanced slowly and cautiously. However, they were now just a few steps from the door.

Irae sighed. "I hope you can deal with a few bruises then."

He swung his knife sideways, using the cord to curve it around the edge of the door. A piercing scream confirmed that the knife had embedded itself into a gunner.

Irae jerked the knife back again. Just as he caught it, he spun around and used the force of the spin to throw the case straight into the man behind him. Immediately, Irae began running after it, trying to get behind the man's desk. All this had taken just a few seconds.

Irae had been doing well in the engagement so far, but he had to get out quickly. He couldn't take out every thug alone without eventually making a mistake. The men in the hallway had been thrown into confusion when Irae had curved his knife around the door, but it hadn't bought him a lot of time. A man was at the doorway, gun pointing at Irae.

Luckily, Irae had just managed to pick up the owner of the office, and was holding him up as a shield, knife at his neck. The gunner paused.

"Sorry about this," Irae whispered.

"Don't worry about it," was the muffled reply.

Though Irae looked to be standing still to the gunner, he was still at work. His foot, hidden behind the desk and his captive, slipped into the handle of the case he'd thrown earlier. He kicked the case next to the window behind him silently, and wrapped the knife's cord around his right wrist, keeping the knife against his captive's neck.

His preparations lasted just a few seconds, but it was enough time for three gunners to enter the room and advance a few steps toward him. The room was silent but for slow footsteps and ragged breathing. Their eyes were locked.

Irae's foot now found the gun that had been dropped when he knocked his captive from his desk. He narrowed his eyes and kicked it hard into the wall to his side.

The gunners flinched, and one fired. The bullet flew behind Irae, breaking the window behind him.

Irae immediately pushed his captive forward as he ducked back, grabbing the case and getting it in front of his torso. Two more shots rang out, one hitting the wall and one lodging in the corner of the case.

Irae turned and dove through the window, holding the case over his shoulder to defend from any more gunshots. As he dove through, he stabbed his knife into the windowsill with all his strength, grabbing on to the cord in the hopes it would slow his fall.

The case slipped from his hand, falling two floors to the alley below. Irae had managed to grip the cord with both hands, but he was still sliding down at an uncomfortable rate. He slowed just a little more before the knife was torn out of the sill, leaving Irae to fall the remaining floor and a half unsupported.

His landing was rough - his feet impacted the ground first, then his knees and hands. Glass from the window pierced through his gloves, and his knife landed within a hair's breadth of his right hand. Everything ached, but nothing seemed to be broken.

 _At this rate, I might actually have to go to a hospital whether I want to or not_ , Irae thought.

Still, Irae wasted no time, pushing himself up immediately. He snagged the suitcase from the ground as he broke into a painful run while pulling his knife back to his hand. His grip of the suitcase sent glass shards further into his palms, but he didn't care.

No shots sounded behind Irae. Perhaps the gunners had gone to his captive first, or maybe they had tried to rush to the main entrance? Irae strained his ears.

 _Mrow._

Irae groaned. His thoughts left his pursuers completely. "So you're back," he said.

A pure black cat stared at him with yellow eyes as it padded along next to him. It was a slim and muscular cat, clearly not a breed domesticated recently, if at all. It was best described as a smaller and slimmer black panther.

Irae always saw it as a devil.

"If you don't have anything to say, leave me be," Irae said as he sped up his pace.

The cat continued to follow him.

Irae ignored it as he tried to deal with his injured hands His injuries suddenly seemed like much more pressing issues. Considering the situation he had been in, he was lucky to get off as easily as he had. His knife had already been slipped into his pocket when he got to the main street, though it didn't make Irae look much less suspicious. A passersby would see a man carrying a suitcase riddles with bullet holes, trying to peel mangled and bloody gloves off his hands. Irae didn't really care anymore, though.

His fingers were safe. His hands still worked fine. He breathed a sigh of relief. There was just enough blood on his hands to make them sticky, but Irae had gotten used to this sensation before. He continued home with his hands hidden in his pockets.

The cat was still with him when he got to his apartment.

Irae tried to close the door before it could slip in, but he wasn't quite fast enough. Before he could try to pick the cat up and throw it out, a voice came over from the couch.

"Good morning, Mana," Mika mumbled from the couch, having just woken up. "Why's Mephisto here?"

Irae growled, "The little devil followed me across half the city."

"He's probably just looking for someone to play his song." Mika said in a somewhat bright tone, still muffled by drowsiness. "Where'd your tablet go? What happened to your hands?"

"I threw it away," Irae said, dumping his bag on the ground. Pulling his hands from his pockets, he said, "And I fell on some broken glass."

Mika threw a small music player on the table while muttering something along the lines of, "What a waste." More loudly, she added, "Wash your hands before you get blood everywhere."

Irae did as he was told while the cat hopped on the table. The cat used its nose to select a very fast waltz from the list, then lay down such that its ears were as close to the device as possible. Its tail began waving around and twitching.

"You seem to have something you want to talk about," Mika muttered once Irae had sat down on the end of the couch. She was lying down on the rest of the couch covered in a thick blanket.

Irae nodded his head, but didn't say anything. He just listened to the music coming from the tiny player on the table and stared at the cat.

For the next ten or so minutes the only sound was the tinny music sounding through the room. Irae heard clearly every mistake and shortcoming in the recording; he was the one who played it, several years ago. They were mistakes so small that no one would notice them, but they stabbed at Irae's mind nevertheless.

Finally the music ended. The cat opened its eyes and stared at the two humans in the room.

A slightly raspy male voice seemed to fill the room. It was the voice of Mephisto. "Something's happened… Mana should know this already."

Irae nodded, before explaining. "He seemed like a sentient computer program. Spoke fast, transported to my tablet while I was underground, referred to a place where 'human society crap is at his fingertips.' Seemed more on the energetic side. He called himself Glitch."

"He's an unwelcome hindrance, but you did the right thing by releasing him. I would assign the task of observing him to you, but you already seemed to have taken it upon yourself," Mephisto said.

Mika was sitting up now. She looked to Irae with a questioning took.

"He was referring to SAO. Yuuki and Aiko are going to be there," Irae explained. "We don't know how powerful he is, but he mentioned that no one will be able to leave."

Mika nodded in understanding.

Mephisto spoke again, "You goals stand thus: follow Glitch into SAO, discover how he came to be, and any associates he may have. You must keep your ability hidden from him, and your existence hidden from the other two Waltzes should they make an appearance. If he learns too much or proves to be a threat, you may kill him."

"What about me?" Mika asked.

"You are to manage the actions of the two Waltzes on this side, as well as prevent anyone from attacking from outside the game. You should also try to look into communicating with Irae while he is trapped."

Mika looked unhappy with her objective, but nodded her head regardless. Staying on Mephisto's good side had more benefits that disagreeing here.

"I should also warn you, Trick may interfere."

Irae visibly flinched. "Any other people of note?"

"Many of the game's staff will be online as well, including the lead developer, Kayaba Akihiko. It's likely some of them have been in contact with Glitch." A paper with a list of names appeared at Mephisto's feet. "A scan of the beta forums will yield information on prominent players. Aside from that, it will just be a lot of dedicated gamers."

"Anything else?"

"Don't lose sight of your goals," Mephisto said before hopping off the table. "Good things never happen when you do."


	3. Chapter 2

Lunch in the Yuuki household this afternoon was little different from most any other evening; the father was on a business trip outside the country and the son was working another late night, leaving only the mother and the daughter. Expensive paintings formed a second layer on the walls, and ornate furniture pieces lined the edges of the room. Despite there being only two people in the large and imposing space, it didn't feel empty. The reason for that was, just like every other afternoon, there was an almost tangible amount of tension permeating the air.

This haze of discomfort emanated from the daughter of the family, Asuna. She was eating as quickly as she could without seeming unmannered, her eyes fixed on her food. Her gaze never drifted up to her mother sitting across from her.

The ticking of the grandfather clock, currently displaying the time of 12:38, was the only sound that filled the room. Every tick marked another second that was an opportunity for her mother to start speaking. It was a race to see what would happen first, her mother opening her mouth for a chat or Asuna escaping from the room. It had been like this for the last four days, ever since she started hearing what people were saying at school. She had considered leaving before she was finished, claiming to be full, but that lie would have been a bit too easy to see through.

She only had a few bites left, just a few more seconds. With each tick of the clock, Asuna's stomach tightened a little more. Finally, she was on her last forkful. _Please, let this dinner go without comment_ , she prayed silently.

Asuna's wish went unheard. As soon as she stood up, her mother cleared her throat and began to speak.

"Now that you're done, Asuna, there's something that I'd like to discuss with you."

The bottom of Asuna's stomach dropped away from her. She'd already been given so much trouble for this rumour at school, she didn't want to hear anything from her mother. Where did she even find these things out? It was Sunday, for crying out loud. Despite her internal turmoil, she turned to her mother and respectfully intoned, "What is it?"

"What's this I've been hearing about you playing games?" Yuuki Kyouko asked. "I thought you said you were devoting all your time to studying. Hm?"

Asuna clenched her fists. "They're just rumours," she said. She knew her mother wouldn't believe it, even if it was the truth. Kyouko wouldn't stop comparing Asuna's marks with her brother's, and was constantly looking for any reason to explain the disparity between the two.

"I see," Kyouko answered slowly. "You can come talk to me again when you can explain why someone would spread such rumours about you."

 _And you can explain how you find these things out?_ Asuna thought, but she didn't give any voice to her complaint. Instead, she marched away. It had been a long week - accusations, complaints, teasing. The studious Asuna, who always chided anyone for wasting their time on games, playing them herself? Maybe her brother worked at a game company, but that didn't mean she played any of it. The game he'd been working on was only being released today, anyways.

Speaking of her brother, the door to his room was slightly ajar. Maybe he'd left in a hurry this morning. He'd mentioned that he was going to play the game on the day it came online, and it had been all over the news for the past week that it would be today. Where was he, then?

Asuna peeked into her brother's room. Most of it was neatly organized, the only exceptions being the perpetually unmade bed and the desk littered with notes, files, pens, and an assortment of trinkets. A plastic helmet that must have been his NerveGear lay on his bed with a bright orange sticky note stuck to the top of it.

Kouichirou was a very organized person, so much so that he used different coloured sticky notes depending on who they were for – green for his mother, blue for his father, and orange for his sister. It was a colour that always comforted Asuna; he didn't hold her to the same standards their mother did and would frequently try to talk their mother around on the topic.

Asuna glanced down the hall - she wasn't sure why - before walking over to the bed and picking up the note. Her brother's writing was mechanically meat but always miniscule, like he'd set the font size on a computer too low, and just never noticed.

｢Sorry I couldn't come back today – last minute stuff came up at work, so I won't be back till after midnight. I hope Mom wasn't too much of a hassle.

Tell you what, since I won't be using this today, you should try it out. From what Hayashi's been saying, we'll be getting different ones at work, so it's all yours. The game's called Sword Art Online, it's already installed.｣

Asuna sighed. The very same day her mother was accusing her of wasting time on video games was the same day her brother tried to get her to play one. This would just confirm her mother's suspicions.

She dropped the note, then noticed there was more writing on the other side that flipped into view as the note fluttered down to the bed. She picked it up again and continued reading,

｢You know you're just going to overstress yourself if you focus on schoolwork and nothing else. I wouldn't have gotten the marks I did if I didn't let myself relax for a while, whether it be listening to music or playing video games. Just give it a try.｣

"Give it a try," Asuna thought aloud. It was the same thing that Kouichirou said when he tried to convince Asuna to learn to play the violin, or to try baseball, or swimming, or really anything other than study. The only time she'd agreed was a few years ago when Kouichirou wanted to try drawing. As it turned out, neither of them could draw. It hadn't stopped her brother from always asking her to try something new.

 _Maybe I should give it a try_ , Asuna thought. Everyone was just going to keep thinking that she played games anyways, and she could find out what all the fuss was about. She could prove to herself for sure that games weren't for her. This game had been all over the news for the last week, so it no one could argue she just started with bad game. And if she liked it…

Asuna found herself laying herself down on the bed, putting the NerveGear over her head. She pushed the power cable off to the side, then ran her fingers all over the outside looking for the power button. Finally, she found it just above where her right eyebrow was, and pressed it.

The clear plastic that covered her eyes lost some of its transparency and displayed the glowing text, ｢New user detected, beginning calibration in «9»｣

The numbers ticked down, presumably there to give someone the opportunity to take the device off beforehand. Asuna waited it out, and began a lengthy series of simple tasks, touching her feet, knees, hips, elbows, and all her joints at specific prompts. After some ten minutes of this, the text finally changed to ｢Calibration complete. What would you like to call this profile?｣

There wasn't a keyboard. "Where do I type?" Asuna asked in frustration.

｢Are you sure you would like to call this profile «Where do I type»?｣

"No," Asuna said. When she was prompted again for a name, she just said "Asuna."

Finally, she could try something. The display had a 3D effect, with a few icons for what must have been games floating to her left, and a clock in the upper right showing the time to be 12:53. Some text in the bottom middle of the display explained that she could select things by speaking, using her hands, or by looking at their icons and blinking twice.

Despite her skepticism, Asuna had to admit to herself that this display was pretty cool. She started looking through the different icons, and saw internet capabilities, a contact list, a messaging app, and basically anything else her phone could do. Aside from being rather cumbersome, Asuna could see this being useful for all sorts of things aside from games. When she checked out that game, she resolved to see how useful this would be for studying.

Her eyes turned to an icon that had two crossed swords on a red background. The text «Sword Art Online» appeared next to it. She reached her hand to it, and a window appeared in the center of her field of vision.

｢The official service of «SAO» will begin in 6 minutes. Would you like to design your avatar now?｣

"Yes," Asuna responded. The window expanded to fill most of her field of view, and displayed a 3D image of Asuna with several options for changing her appearance. Asuna spent the next several minutes agonizing over the details of her avatar, eventually just leaving most things to be the same. The new avatar was maybe two centimeters taller, mostly because Asuna couldn't find the undo button when she fiddled with it. Her face was a little less chubby, and her nose a little more pointy, mostly because she looked smarter that way. Otherwise, the avatar was very similar to its maker. Asuna was happy with her slim build and really liked the bright orange of her hair. It was how her brother chose the dedicated colour of sticky notes for Asuna.

She finally hit the okay button to find that she'd spent just over ten minutes making those few changes. The window at the center of the display now read, ｢SAO is online. Say "Link Start" to begin.｣

Asuna did so. Multicoloured lights sprang up in front of her, stretching out into a rainbow of colours around her. More lines of light shot from some point in front to her peripheral vision, creating the sensation that she was flying up. A sharp metallic taste hit her, followed closely by a circular popup reading «Taste». A tingling sensation ran through her body next, with a popup reading «Touch». The process repeated for «Hearing» and «Smell», then following up with a cold feeling for «Temperature» and a pitching feeling for «Balance». Finally, the stream of colours resumed, displaying the last popup, «Sight».

The colours resolved into predominantly blues and whites, which blurred together into a cascade of squares that dispersed in all directions with a whooshing sound.

Asuna found herself standing in a large cobbled courtyard lined with arches. All around her, other players were materializing in their own clouds of blue and white pixels, giving the whole courtyard a look almost like a field filled with blue flowers. In front of Asuna was a huge cathedral covered in pointy spires and winged with flying buttresses. It was maybe six or seven stories tall, towering over the whole skyline. Behind the ring of arches around the courtyard were medieval European-style houses lining cobbled roads.

I suppose the first order of business would be to find someone who knows what they're doing, Asuna thought after gazing around for a while. She weaved in between other players just spawning in, working her way towards the nearest edge of the courtyard. It seemed a good portion of the players weren't completely new to the game as they darted off as soon as their pixel clouds dispersed. For the most part, though, people were entranced by the world around them for at least a few moments when they spawned in.

When Asuna finally reached the ring of arches, she spotted a point of bright pink which turned out to be someone's hair. The owner of that particularly shocking head of hair turned out to be a girl a few years older than Asuna who was looking across the courtyard, probably waiting for someone. She seemed friendly enough, and at this point Asuna was glad that there was another girl here besides herself; everyone she'd seen so far was a guy.

She walked up to her. "Hello, I'm new here and you look like you know what you're doing. Could I tag along?"

The girl looked at her, suddenly losing whatever friendliness Asuna had seen in her. "The game's only been online ten minutes; everyone here is new."

At that moment another player darted past them, beelining for a specific merchant while simultaneously poking at the air in front of him, probably using a menu. He definitely didn't seem new.

The girl with the pink hair followed Asuna's gaze, then added, "…Except the beta testers, but they'll be disappearing fast."

"That's already more than I know about the game," Asuna replied.

The girl turned back to Asuna with a frown. "How do you not know what beta testers are? You'd have to know about them if you knew enough about the game to get it. What, did you steal it or something?"

Asuna looked to the ground as she explained, "I didn't actually get the game myself. My brother let me try it out-"

"Where's your brother, then? He could show you around and I could go unencumbered by any _more_ noobs."

Asuna didn't know precisely what a noob was, but she'd heard guys calling each other that enough at school to know it was some kind of insult. "He had to go to work at the last minute, which is why I'm playing now."

"Sucks for him," the girl replied. "Look, I guess I can show you around, but we'll have to wait for noob number one. What's taking her so long-"

"Hey, Iz," someone called out from behind Asuna. "Who's this?" Asuna whirled around to see another girl with shocking pink hair. Her hair was shorter and she was a little chubbier than Asuna, but her blue eyes shone with a lot more energy.

"Some newbie that was asking me to show her around," the first girl explained.

"Great," the new girl exclaimed. "Now we have someone to stick in front of the enemies while we run away!"

When Asuna made a terrified face, she said, "Kidding! I'm Lisbeth, just call me Liz. I suppose Izumi hasn't introduced herself."

The girl named Izumi stopped her. "My name here is Tori," she said, continuing in a low grumble with, "Izumi was already taken one minute after the game went online."

"I'm Yuuki Asuna, though I'd prefer you call me Asuna," Asuna introduced herself.

"Great, Asuna, were all completely new to the game here," said Lisbeth with a barely-disguised smile. "By the way, most gamers don't reveal their full names right away."

"Sorry," Asuna cried.

"No, it's fine. I'd be in the same situation if it weren't for Iz- I mean Tori. She kept up with the beta, and likes to lord her information over her poor little sister." Her words were accompanied by dramatized hand-motions.

"You can continue you're talking while we move," Tori interrupted. "There should be a really good merchant around two streets this way."

The streets were bustling with activity. Between the beta testers flying down the streets to get to the best merchants, the new players gasping at every little detail on the streets, and the vendors themselves there wasn't enough space to swing a sword. There were plenty of odd sights to see as well, as at various points the group passed a merchant handling his business while balancing on his head, possibly to gain attention, a player that had sold the clothes he spawned with for extra money and was now wandering around in his underwear, and at one point Asuna swore she could see two people weaving through the crowd while playing a violin duet.

"They're sure trying to make the opening day a spectacle," Tori commented as they pushed past all this.

It took quite a while for them to just get two streets over, by which time Lisbeth had already sold off her starting dagger and bought a mace. The crowds were already beginning to thin out, as apparently everyone was concentrated around the spawn courtyard this early in the service. The three girls found themselves in a fairly narrow street, just wide enough to be considered a single-lane road in the real world. There were two merchants sitting right next to each other some five meters from the intersection, their wares laid out before them. A man was standing between them, wearing old and dented armour, and holding a sword at his side.

Tori rushed to the nearest merchant and asked, "What kind of stuff do you sell?"

The merchant smiled. He was more than a little fat, and his brown cloak was tucked under his belly. "The best bows and arrows in these parts of Aincrad, my dear. Accurate enough to hit a bull in the eye from fifty meters." Tori's eyes lit up. He quickly continued, "…with a bit of practice."

"I'll take one," Tori said quickly. She selected a medium-size composite bow, and apparently already knew what all the parts did.

Lisbeth had to explain to Asuna that archery was one of Tori's hobbies, and probably the reason she beelined for a merchant specializing in bows. Also that she might shoot at other people if she was sufficiently bad-tempered. "But really, everyone's like that," Lisbeth added with a lilt.

"If you're done over there," the other merchant called over, "I sell the best light swords. They'll cut through a bow while the archer's busy trying to aim the damn thing."

"Asuna, how'd you like to get a sword? I suppose one of us should get a sword, the game is called _Sword_ Art Online, after all," Lisbeth asked. Tori was still perusing the merchant's stock of quivers; Asuna had time to look around.

"Sure… I've never held a sword before, though," Asuna replied.

"Do you really think I've used a mace before? We're here to figure stuff out, what weapons we like and what ones we don't."

"Okay, then," Asuna said, walking over to the other merchant. He looked up to her and frowned. In contrast to the other merchant, he was muscular and covered in scars, as if he had been a warrior before becoming a merchant. He seemed to be wearing some light armour under his cloak.

"It seems the girl's interested in some swords. I don't carry anything really heavy…" His eyes scanned Asuna top to bottom, then he picked up a measuring tape from a bag at his side. "You don't mind if I check your height?"

Asuna nodded, "It's fine." Lisbeth, standing behind her, chuckled.

The merchant measured Asuna's arm length, total height, and just… kept going. Asuna wasn't sure what importance there was in the distance between her eyes, but she supposed this man was the expert. Finally he sat back down and put the tape away and nodded to himself. "I have just the thing for you." He pulled out a long thin blade with an ornate blue hilt. "It's a close fit. Just a centimeter or two shorter and I wouldn't have been so sure."

Asuna recalled that her avatar was around a centimeter taller thanks to her fiddling with her height before finding the undo button. "I'll take it."

The man nodded. He waved his fingers around in the air for a second, and a window appeared in front of Asuna's eyes. It displayed the sword, «Droplet», as well as a cost in Col, which Asuna supposed must have been the money of SAO. She hit the okay button, nothing happened.

"Seems you don't have enough."

Asuna pouted. "Can I just get it later, then?"

"It's a pretty valuable item. How about this - I'll lower the cost, but you have to make me your principal weapon dealer in future, and pay me back some of the extra later."

Asuna paused. She wasn't sure if it was a good thing until Tori interjected, "That's actually a pretty good deal, Asuna. You'll make the extra money quickly, and a merchant is always good for connections."

The man nodded with a smile. Asuna noticed the window in front of her had changed, and now displayed a different sum as well as the clause, ｢Agreement for further business｣. Asuna accepted.

The man grinned, "I'm not supposed to be saying this as a merchant, but in future you might want to see if you can haggle _before_ you're worked into a corner. Most merchants will go a little lower, especially the mindless ones you'll be seeing a lot of in the next few days."

"…Thanks?" Asuna replied.

The man lowered his head. "If you need anything, I'll be around this area the next few days. A man with connections can get you the best rooms for the lowest prices. Before you go out, you might want to talk to Hetz over there." He gestured to the guard standing between him and the other merchant.

"I'm right here," grumbled Hetz.

The merchant smiled. "Just remember to form a party with your friends. It makes things go a lot faster."

Tori had just walked back to them then, with a new quiver full of arrows on her back. Lisbeth elbowed her and said, "The guy here says we should form a party. Looks like there are quests to be had."

The older girl complied. Another window appeared in front of Asuna asking if she wanted to join a party. She accepted, and saw that Tori had already turned to the guard.

"So why do we want to talk to you?" asked Tori.

Hetz replied, "A few things, really. Firstly, I just want you to be on guard; pickpockets dominate in crowds like we're having today. If you spot anything like that, or anything suspicious, come to em. Otherwise, there's the boar problem. When you go out to hunt some boars - and I know that's what you're gonna do - _don't_ go for the regular ones. When a bunch of them die, the remaining boars like to crowd together and stampede around the plain. With how many people will be hunting today, that's definitely gonna happen - so I want you to kill the bigger ones before it happens. Easier to deal with a swarm of cats than a charge of horses, right?"

Another window appeared in front of Asuna, titled «New Quests». Underneath was written «Report Criminals» and «Kill Great Boars». The window disappeared quickly; Tori had been idly tapping the air in front of her while making a show of studiously ignoring the man's story.

"Ready to head out?" Tori didn't wait for a response as she began heading down the streets away from the cathedral's spires that marked the location of the central courtyard. Asuna quickly glanced back down the street as they left the two merchants, and saw another person covered head to foot in black talking with the guard, Hetz. It was probably just a player that had invested time into trying to look like a movie ninja.

Lisbeth and Asuna followed Tori as she made her way through some smaller streets before getting them back to a main street. There was already a big flow of players towards the huge gate at the end of the road, and the trio slipped into it.

As Asuna walked along with this rush of people, she thought that this was probably the most familiar thing that she had done in the last fifteen minutes. She'd spawned in a Middle Ages-themed city, bought a rapier from a merchant, and was now going to go fight monsters with people she just met. Yet now she was walking down a wide, straight path in a crowd of people. It wasn't much different from her daily experience at school, going between classes. She realized she was drawing comfort from the settings that weren't quite so alien, but she was also sort of… disinterested. That was old. She was here for the new. Why hadn't she tried this before?

Finally they reached the gate. There were fewer people at this point – had some of them gone to look for more merchant, perhaps? It was good, though, because it gave the whole party a view of the landscape before them.

Yellow-green plains extended before them for miles, dotted with roaming boars and clumps of players trying to hunt them down. Far off in the distance and off to the left side was a dark green stripe that must have been the forests Hetz mentioned. To their right was the glittering of a stream meandering through the open plain. Behind even the forests and rivers stood what seemed to be a tower of clouds. It was roughly conical, its wispy top twisting down from the blue sky until it coalesced into a dark, stationary tornado that touched the ground far in the distance.

Asuna, Lisbeth, and Tori stopped at the entrance, staring at the strange land before them. After what must have been a few moments, Asuna was roused from her trance by the sound of a pair of players talking nearby.

"Implications?" one of them was asking. She was a short girl who seemed at home in the shadows, away from sight. Even now, she was staying close to the wall and hiding in a narrow space. "How can anything have bigger implications than what you said about the NPCs?"

"Why, it's what ties everything together. You haven't tried logging out yet, have you?" the other responded. He was somewhat tall, with very Western features. He had the air of a performer - he was right at home where everyone could see him.

"Why, what's up with that?"

"Just check."

The girl flicked her fingers around, then said, "This one should be fixed soon, though."

"I'm not so sure about that. There was one other thing, but I'm not the one you want to talk to. I know a guy who works at Argus…" he trailed off, reducing his voice to a whisper. Asuna thought it better that way, she felt guilty about eavesdropping even that tiny amount. She couldn't check what had scared the girl, as she didn't even know how to open her menu. It looked a bit like a downward swipe with two fingers…

Asuna tried it and successfully opened a window. Five circular buttons appeared, marked «Inventory», «Friends», «Communication», «Maps», and «Main Menu». Tapping on Main Menu revealed another three buttons, but one was greyed out. The remaining buttons were «Options» and «Help».

Asuna's exploration of the menu was interrupted when Tori called out, "Are you guys ready to go? Let's fight some dudes before everyone rushes out and there's nothing left for us."

Asuna and Lisbeth followed their leader out into the open plains and began their journey through a strange land.

* * *

 **A/N:** I realize I forgot to leave an author's note at the end of the previous chapter. Oh, well, I let the story speak for itself and all that.

A few things to clarify. This is my first story, and it should be updating once a week. I have a few chapters built up in case I slack on writing, but they're all in need of some editing. You may have noticed, but I take a while to get to the point, and I will have to delete many many words to make this story work. The story itself will have several OCs, but plenty of canon characters as well - though some will end up in radically different places than the original. I approached this story with the thought that nothing really happened in the beginning of SAO, and wanted to remedy that. From there, I'd just see how things went.

｢Text｣, "talking" _thoughts_ «Does anyone really know what these things do?»

Finally, the demon cat. The demon cat from the last chapter will disappear for a while. Why do I have a demon cat, you may ask? Well, what story is complete _without_ a demon cat?


	4. Chapter 3

Argo took off at a sprint as soon as the blue particles faded around her. This scene was nothing new to her - people milling about, enjoying the world - she didn't pay it any attention. She had connections to remake, business to get to.

The crowd, mostly filled with first-timers and gamers that spent their time gaping at graphics, was like an obstacle course, and Argo darted through it with stunning precision. Some players spawned with their cloaks flying up around them, the sound of a gust of air in their ears, thanks to Argo's flight through their ranks.

Argo began her circuit of the plaza without stopping, scanning every face around her. Within five minutes of the game going online, she had already added six people to her friends list. Just as she was finishing her first lap around the ring of arches, she smirked. Soon that number would be seven.

Her quarry was a tall, somewhat slim man with spiky red hair. Back in the beta, Argo had enjoyed being with this particular person because he was so tall; it was easy to hide in his shadow. 'The rat and the dog' they'd once been called.

Argo slipped through the crowd until she was right behind him. He hadn't spotted her, and she grinned evilly. Channeling thoughts of Shaolin monks through her, she jabbed him, hard, in the small of the back with two fingers.

"Ow," he complained. "Why am I not surprised it's you, Rat?"

"Eugene." Argo smirked. "Is it just me, or do you seem slightly shorter?"

"Had a chance to adjust some settings," he said. "I figured it would be better to have less of a shadow for rodents to hide in."

"If you wanted to do that, you'd have to be three feet tall." Argo sent him a friend request.

"I'll tell you the real reason for all your starting money."

"How about developer-exclusive intel?"

Eugene nodded.

"Buddy of mine, name of Mortimer, he'll be taking the spotlight. I have to cut enough of an image to lead myself, but I can't be overshadowing the star, can I?"

"Must be some guy for you to respect him like that. Now, on my end," Argo leaned in close, tugging Eugene down by the collar, "The warehouses in the southwest district - the ones you couldn't get into in the beta - they're fixed now. Mostly empty space, though."

"That's not much."

"Neither is the name of some guy you know. Now, see if you can get me some real stuff soon."

Argo melted back into the crowd. People were already flooding through the streets, and she needed to meet people and get places before everything was too spread out and messy.

Her reputation helped her in the next few minutes. Most people that knew her in the beta had their assigned meeting points, and Argo had long since placed them on her mental map of the city. Even before putting on the NerveGear, she had plotted a course through the city to hit all the important places and meeting points as quickly and efficiently as possible. She even managed to snag a few newbies who'd hear of her on the forums. Things were going well.

Of course, this wouldn't have been possible without Argo's extensive knowledge of the city, and her detailed mental map of even the minutest details of the city. Her path took her through the most obscure alleys and corridors, at times flying past NPCs no one even thought existed. It was funny how Argo, who cared so little about the lore of the game, was one of only a handful of players to ever discover that the NPCs in the most remote circuits of the map told a gristly story of slavery, starvation, and death. She flew past a few of these slave NPCs as she passed by, but paid them no attention. They were scenery, doodads, nothing more. Still, her sharp eyes had never spared her from noticing the broken looks in their weathered eyes.

Those NPCs disappeared the closer she got to the main roads, though. The muddy ruts turned to cobbled paths before widening out into big streets. Yet somehow, the street still wasn't wide enough for her to avoid a collision.

"Oof," the player fell to the ground with a grunt.

Argo had stayed on her feet at his expense. She looked down at him and saw that it was someone she knew. That certainly sped things up.

"If it isn't Kii-boy. You should watch where you're going." Argo offered her hand.

The boy, Kirito, accepted her hand and pulled himself up. "I'm sort of in a hurry," he muttered in a distracted tone.

"Aren't we all?" Argo said, sending a friend request. "Though I don't suppose it has anything to do with that guy running after you?"

Another player had rushed in to catch up with the two of them. He had unruly orange-red hair that drooped over his eyes. When he straightened himself, Argo saw that he was tall, about Eugene's height, though quite a bit slimmer. He looked almost like a stick figure, and everything from his odd appearance to the way he moved and panted after a run screamed 'newbie.' You couldn't lose your breath here, it was a game.

Kirito tried to escape, but Argo snagged his upper arm in a death grip. Smiling evilly, she said, "Now who do you think you are, trying to leave a poor man who tried so hard to keep up with you?"

"Thanks," the man panted. "I'm Klein. You looked like you knew what you were doing so-" he clapped his hands together and bowed, "Please show a noob like me the ropes."

"Uhhh…" Kirito breathed.

"This here is Kirito, and I'm sure he'd absolutely _love_ to share his knowledge of the game," Argo said happily. "Wouldn't you."

Kirito groaned. "I suppose so. Well, first lesson - you can't get anywhere among the top ranks of players without good information, and the best place to get it is from The Rat." He gestured to Argo.

Argo did a dignified bow. "How nice to be honoured by one of my customers." She sent the man a friend request.

"Thank you!" Klein said gratefully, and perhaps a little more loudly than he realized.

Argo nodded her head and ran off. Kirito seemed to be awkwardly trying to explain where he was trying to go. It would be a good experience for him to actually interact with people; he'd been quite the loner in the beta.

The warehouse district had been an odd place in the beta; is was a zone that wasn't quite finished, so many of the large buildings there couldn't be entered despite having wide open doorways. Argo didn't even need the confirmation she got from one of her Real Life contacts that there was something special there. If they were just normal warehouses, then there was no reason they would have taken so long to complete. She intended to be the first one to scan the area; the information dealer must always have the most up-to-date information, after all.

The first warehouse was rather boring. Perhaps there was something hidden that couldn't be spotted until either more floors were cleared, or special skills were gotten. The piles of wooden crates were empty but for mold and rat nests. The whole structure seemed abandoned.

The following warehouses were similar. Some had scaffolding that Argo busied herself exploring, but she found nothing but old construction materials. Perhaps there was a lore reason behind the state of these warehouses; it certainly had a similar aesthetic to the most hidden alleys of the city. That still wouldn't explain why this zone took so much time to develop.

Or perhaps it was all just a mistake, a coincidence that there had been a delay in this zone's completion. Argo had always been able to see more details than others, maybe she had just looked to closely and seen a pattern where there wasn't one.

Yeah, right. The whole world was a riddle; there was a logic there, even if Argo didn't understand it. Things didn't just _happen_ for no reason.

Argo was still lost in her thoughts as she finished scanning through the last warehouse. She returned to the entrance, staring over the whole warehouse again. It didn't make sense.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming from behind her. She turned to see a man, tall and European-looking. He could have been an NPC, but something about him said otherwise. Argo was always one to trust her intuition; she had trained it well.

"The riddle," the newcomer said in a soft voice, "is in the cobbles. Look closely."

Argo did. The floor of the warehouse was cobbled, like the road outside. If she squinted her eyes and turned her head forty-five degrees to the left, then…

"Whoa." There was certainly something there, she just wasn't sure what. Argo took a few steps back, and saw that an image resolved itself in her eyes, almost like lines of text, but in no alphabet she'd seen before. Memorizing that image, she turned her attention back to the man.

"Walk with me," he said, starting without waiting for her to reply.

Argo took a moment to consider. Someone with his observational ability was certainly someone she wanted to know. It wasn't likely anyone else would spot the code in the floors for a while yet; she had a monopoly on this information. She hurried over to follow him from his own shadow.

"You're certainly an interesting person," he said.

"The Rat," Argo said. "You?"

"A self-given name, how illuminating. I will respond in kind. I am Valse."

Valse. Not Japanese, and not English. It probably came from some other European language, though Argo wasn't sure which one.

"So why the interest in me?" Argo asked.

"The way you moved across the city was certainly interesting. You see, I'm looking for someone to help me with something. Capable allies for the project I'm attempting."

"You're sounding pretty creepy. I'm not sure if you're just some overzealous role-player or if you're actually an NPC come to collect me for a quest."

He laughed. An NPC - a non-player character - was a simulacrum of a person within the game, usually with a utility or story purpose. Their scripts probably wouldn't be able to recognize the kinds of responses Argo was giving, but at the same time Vase was just too different from a player. He didn't have the starting equipment, instead wearing a robe that many a noble NPC was found in.

"I suppose I'm more similar to the latter, but haven't you looked around? The people you call NPCs aren't the robots of the beta."

"This is certainly creeping me out now," Argo said. "Explain."

"It's not something you will accept right away. You need to talk to the NPCs, and you will eventually appreciate that they are people in their own right."

"They're fragments of code. Argus must really have made some kind of Post-Singularity discovery if they've made every one of their NPCs a believable human."

Valse shrugged. "Talk with them, eventually you'll realize it."

Argo decided to set this aside for now; she would investigate later. "Now, you were talking about recruiting me. For what?"

"I wish to avoid a power struggle. The city, and indeed, all of Aincrad, is in a rather unstable state right now. There will be a lot of fighting; I wish for you to influence the player base to not fight amongst themselves or against those you call the NPCs."

"What do I get for my troubles?"

"Control. Power. Safety. Information."

That didn't seem enough for Argo. She was always one to hide in the shadows, observing and gathering information to better herself. She could help people without them knowing, without being a leader or figurehead. That was exactly the opposite of what Valse was asking.

"I get a lot of that without following you."

"You won't have to make much of a change to your behaviour. Perhaps a nudge here, the right information there, just the small influences that avoid catastrophe. I'll help you by providing you with information."

"I'll consider it."

Argo left it at that. She filtered some of the information that went through her, usually Real Life information, or personal character stats. That was for privacy and for safety, though. Valse was asking her to censor information for his own ends. That was what Argo had always wanted to avoid.

"Even so, I'll provide you with some information to begin our contact. You can spread it however you want, I don't mind."

"…Let's hear it, then."

"To begin with, there have been many small changes to the world. They will become more apparent as time goes on. The change in NPC behaviour is just the tip of the iceberg. The society of the city has been completely reformed, and this will be very important in the days to come. The entire world has been made into a deadlier place - the small fry you players fight outside the city will respond in force if too many are killed. The NPCs can turn against you. This will be all the deadlier because of this-"

Valse suddenly spun around and struck Argo in the chest. She didn't feel a thing, thanks to the city safe-zone. Instead of an impact, a purple window in the shape of a hexagon appeared before Argo's face. It read, ｢Safe Zone Protection. «34: 43:11»｣

"The City safe-zone will run out?" Argo asked. "Not exactly balanced."

"You'll have a much different reaction after this evening."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"The opening ceremonies will carry some weight."

Argo got the feeling that Valse was trying to lead her to something, but she wasn't sure what. Damn it, her skill was in finding information, not jumping to conclusions when it was limited.

Valse continued, "Then, there are the… glitches. You may one day see a wall, and not realize that it isn't a wall. Visual glitches, illusions, they are everywhere. Careful which senses you trust."

"The warehouses…"

"Yes, similar to the message in the floor. Keep your eyes peeled. Now, I'll give my last snippet of information."

Valse stopped at this point. He had led Argo to the main gate of the city, and other players were walking by. This was the first time he had paid them any mind. He stopped before the gate, then led Argo down the wall, away from the crowds. He then leaned in close and whispered:

"This is the bit with the most implications."

"Implications? I'd say it would be tough for anything to have more implications than the NPC bit."

"Why, it's what ties everything together. You haven't tried logging out yet, have you?"

"Why?"

"Just check."

Argo slid her fingers downward through the air in front of her, summoning the menu. She opened the «Main Menu» Option, and found that the logout button was gone. She tried tapping where it should be, but nothing happened.

"The other glitches were things that no one would notice unless they were looking for them, and some were probably intentional. This one… this one should be fixed soon."

"I'm not so sure about that. There was one other thing, but I'm not the one you want to talk to. I know a guy who works at Argus, his username is Inkling. Just before launch, he found something - a ghost in the machine. He should answer some of your questions."

"And where would I find him?"

"Check the warehouses in a few hours." Valse grinned boyishly, and left.

Argo didn't try to follow him. She had a lot to think about, and she felt exposed where she was now. Earlier, Valse's tall frame had acted as a shield of sorts, a distraction for other people's eyes. Now, she was alone, a dark spot on a light-coloured wall. She glanced around, and slipped through the gate to the outside. She was here, she might as well grind a few levels while she thought.

Her questions revolved more around Valse than the information he gave her. He'd provided evidence for the glitches, with demonstrations and such. The only thing he hadn't supported was the claim about NPCs, and that could be verified later. If he was an NPC like he'd said, then she already had some evidence to support that.

Valse's identity was another issue. He'd come to her out of the blue, and while claiming to be an NPC, he knew what that term meant, and discussed glitches, players, and logging out. It would make sense if the NPCs knew they were in a game. That was interesting in a Matrix theory kind of way, to see a society that _knew_ they were part of a simulation, but Argo found herself rejecting that idea. It was too foreign. Then again, this whole world was made to seem foreign, and large.

He'd mentioned a ghost in the machine, how an employee at Argus knew more about it. Could Valse himself have been the 'ghost?' Was he just a piece of self-aware script that was playing god? That was certainly an odd way for humanity to stumble through the singularity - to accidentally make a self-aware AI in a game.

The idea stuck with Argo, though. As she cut through boars, the weakest mobs of the plains around the Starting City, she found herself contemplating that idea. If he was god, then the information he was giving her was his message to humanity. Was he trying to make her into some kind of _prophet_?

Argo wasn't religious. She'd always seen faith as some kind of escape from reality, a creation made just to comfort people. Wasn't a game the same thing, though?

* * *

 **A/N:** There may be more typos and grammatical errors in this chapter, as this was written entirely today. While I had this section written before, I decided it was too slow, and rewrote the entire thing from scratch. I think it's a little better this way.

However, I still have a few problems with my story as a whole. It's a little too slow. I've decided to rewrite everything for conciseness, and eliminate a few sections that weren't doing much. However, it still takes a while to get started. The opening ceremony won't be coming for three more chapters with the current plan. However, it does transition a little more nicely; next chapter will follow Inkling, and will make reference to the next chapter's POV character.

The music that got me through this chapter was by Bill Evans.


	5. Chapter 4

The core of the programming department of Argus was a rather dull place, just a sea of cubicles and desks where programmers worked tirelessly day in and day out. What it had over other companies was in the surroundings - lounges where all kinds of employees would share ideas, recreation rooms where people would spend their breaks, and comfortable rooms with beds where testers would enter the virtual game world.

Apparently the core of the department had been built first. The surrounding facilities were built after Argus had bought the building and refurbished it. The philosophy behind the current design was that play distracted from work and should be kept separate, but since the company was dedicated to making games, allowances had to be made.

Today was one of the days where the allowances were made for almost everyone. Kouichirou was one of the few people remaining in the main room, hiding behind the walls of his cubicle.

｢So how's the work going?｣ The words were displayed in the corner of Kouichirou's computer screen. No matter what he did, he couldn't get rid of the messages from the person Kouichirou had taken to calling Nazo. He claimed to live in his computer, and Kouichirou had to admit that he wasn't all bad. He sometimes helped out with his workload, and also seemed to know what was going on around the office. Kouichirou didn't think that Nazo was one of his coworkers, though; his intuition told him something was off. He might have been a hacker, but he had too much knowledge of the game not to have worked on it.

｢What do you want now?｣ Kouichirou typed.

｢Something's happening.｣ Nazo responded. ｢Shouldn't some of the programmers be back by now?｣

That was true. The room was mostly empty right now because most of the department was given permission to dive into the game just before launch, possibly to find some last-minute bugs, but mostly just so that the programmers could take a moment to appreciate what they'd accomplished over the last few years. They should have been coming back by now, as the game would be going online in less than half an hour.

｢Do you think I should check on them?｣ Kouichirou typed.

｢Wait a sec...｣ There was a brief pause, then, ｢Something seems wrong with their admin capabilities. You might want to edit yours to see if you can get around whatever's causing it.｣

Kouichirou wasn't entirely surprised that Nazo knew what had happened to the programmers. The mysterious messenger had proved aware of events in the game before, and had helped solve plenty of problems, so he pulled up his account data on his computer. Like the other programmers, he was listed as an administrator and had privileges a little above an average GM.

｢Get to the edit menu and copy what I'm about to type into the username section.｣ Nazo wrote.

Just as Kouichirou moved to comply, a large block of code appeared in the message window. It was possible to insert code into a system from any input by closing the input with a " and typing in all the code that was needed. The profile page had undergone an update recently, so it was very possible the inputs hadn't been sanitized, and the code would run. Of course, that wouldn't affect the players, as they wouldn't have a username box; that was an Argus employee exclusive. It was necessary to allow testers to create multiple different players under one account. Argus accounts also made contacting other employees much easier.

However, Kouichirou didn't trust Nazo entirely, and so he examined the code before doing anything. There seemed to be a few tricks to it, such as waiting a few minutes before upgrading administrator privileges. That might have been to get around any system that downgraded him on logging in. Otherwise, the code didn't seem to have any unexpected function. What was unexpected was that it also seemed to call functions that were part of the «Cardinal System», the top-secret program cluster that ran the core of the game. The programmers weren't given clearance to look at that system, only Kayaba Akihiko and maybe four other people had worked on that. Now, how would Nazo know of that?

Unable to answer that question himself, Kouichirou looked over the code a second time just in case there was one extra line with malicious content. He wasn't sure if he should be putting this code in, but Nazo had proved to make good judgement calls in the past when dealing with bugs, and Kouichirou found he trusted Nazo a lot. He was just being cautious.

He pasted the code in.

｢Looks like it's time to meet me in the game.｣ Nazo messaged, before the text box disappeared.

Kouichirou picked up his NerveGear and stood up. He decided that he'd better say something to Hayashi before diving into the game.

Hayashi was Kouichirou's direct superior, and one of the few people to stay behind while the rest of the department entered the game. He was a lively man, always cracking jokes, but he was also quite capable. Kouichirou had told him about Nazo once, but Hayashi seemed to think it was some kind of a joke.

"Those guys are taking quite a while to come back," Kouichirou began. "What say you I hop in to remind them of the time?"

"What? You trying to sneak in there yourself?" Hayashi smiled in a friendly manner. "Ah, well, you've been a good worker, so I'll let you go. You can have ten minutes to take a look around the game after sending them a message."

Kouichirou nodded his thanks and headed into one of the dedicated diving rooms.

In just a few seconds he had logged on and entered the game. The whirl of colours dispersed around him with a whooshing sound, and the central courtyard revealed itself.

Kouichirou smiled as he looked around. He'd gotten a good chance to look around in the last few days, but the scenery still fascinated him. He was only distracted for a few moments, however, and he quickly opened the menu by dragging his fingers through the air in front of him.

What he noticed immediately was that there were only five buttons in the menu instead of the normal six. While everyday players would only have five, the sixth was what opened the administrator console. It seemed Nazo was right about the issue being there.

Kouichirou opened the Messaging menu and sent a message to all his coworkers currently in the game. ｢You should be heading back - the game's about go online for the public.｣

In moments, replies came in. The vast majority were along the lines of, ｢We can't log out.｣ or ｢If you can do it, kick me from outside the game.｣ |One sent him an invite to a chat group where all the Argus employees were saying much the same thing.

As soon as he saw this, Kouichirou immediately navigated to the main menu. The buttons that came out were «Options», «Help», and a blank space where the «Logout» button should have been.

Despite the possible problems with this, Kouichirou stayed calm. Hayashi would likely force a logout for everyone here if no one came out on their own. The problem would be an easy fix when they got out of the game. The only issue would be the administrator capabilities - why were they gone?

"Ah… Hello." Kouichirou's thoughts were interrupted by a timid voice. He looked up to see a young girl standing in front of him, maybe seven years old. She had long black hair reaching all the way down her back, and kind black eyes.

"Hello," Kouichirou answered her. "Do I know you?"

She probably wasn't an NPC, as they wouldn't enter the central square on the first day, so she must have been a player. However, she didn't have the cursor over her head that indicated that. Even NPCs had those, a blue one easily distinguished from the players' green.

"Well… Not by name," she said. "But we've been talking on your computer for a while."

Was this Nazo?

Before Kouichirou could say anything, Nazo burst out, "I'm sorry! I didn't know what to do, and Glitch wouldn't let me help anyone, so I brought you here."

"Calm down," Kouichirou said soothingly. This was not at all how he imagined Nazo, and he found himself acting as if he was consoling his younger sister. "Can you tell me your name?"

The girl stopped crying out. She took a moment to calm herself, then said, "You can call me Yui."

"Can you tell me what's wrong?"

"I don't think anyone is going to be able to leave the game," Yui said slowly. "The players will come in, and they'll… they'll be stuck here just like you and your friends."

Kouichirou wasn't quite so calm after hearing this, but he didn't let it show. Dealing with Asuna years ago had taught him that the wrong reaction in these situations was far worse than no reaction.

"So..." Kouichirou began, "You brought me here to help? Do you have anything in mind?"

Yui shook her head slightly. "I thought you could do something with some administrator commands, but it looks like it didn't work properly."

Kouichirou frowned slightly at hearing this, and opened his menu. It seemed enough time had passed for the injected code to work, as the sixth button had appeared in the bottom middle of the menu.

"Actually, it looks like your code really did make me an admin."

Yui shook her head. "Open the menu."

Complying, Kouichirou saw all the actions he could take with his administrator level: he could view a player list, and nothing else. He checked the admin level: -2.

Yui didn't wait for him to say anything, for which Kouichirou was glad. He wasn't sure that he could do anything in this situation.

"We should probably get going," Yui said. "You're going to have to talk with your friends, and just talk things over. There has to be some way out, you just have to find it."

With that, she grabbed Kouichirou's hand and began dragging him away with surprising strength. She seemed to know her way around the streets quite well, even using some small alleys as shortcuts to get to wherever she was leading him.

Finally, she stopped, and said to Kouichirou, "I have to go. Most of your friends are just around the corner, you'll have to talk with them and help them get through this. And please don't mention me?"

Yui looked at Kouichirou with pleading eyes. Kouichirou didn't believe anyone could say no to that face.

"Okay. Thanks for everything you've tried. Will we speak again?

A slight smile creased Yui's lips. "Yes!"

With that a friend request window appeared in front of Kouichirou, even though Yui couldn't have been accessing her menu. Her username was odd: Yui-MHCP001. He still accepted, but when the floating window disappeared, Yui was nowhere to be seen.

Kouichirou took a moment to digest everything Yui had said. He and his co-workers were trapped in Aincrad, the world of Sword Art Online. He had to tell everyone about this and come up with a plan of action.

He took a deep breath and walked around the corner. There he found an open square maybe twenty meters across, lined with empty shops. At its center stood a few small trees growing from raised troughs. Lining these troughs were benches, and occupying these benches were about fifteen people wearing starting gear. They all seemed slightly irritated, but no one seemed to be bothered much by their inability to log out. They were probably glad to have a chance to spend some extra leisure time in the game world. Kouichirou didn't want to share Yui's concerns, even though many of them might have been thinking that.

He decided to take it slow.

Walking up to them, Kouichirou said, "Hey."

"Here to join us?" one of them asked.

"Sure. I was the one who sent the message to leave, but I guess we can't," Kouichirou said as he took a seat. "I'm Yuuki Kouichirou, but I guess you should call me Inkling while we're here."

"I'll go by Granden," the man sitting beside Kouichirou said. "We'll probably be kicked from the game soon enough. Let's just enjoy it while we have an excuse, right?"

Kouichirou was probably younger than Granden, he was younger than most other employees, so he decided to treat him as a leader of sorts. "What should we do if players start logging in before that happens?"

"If that happens, we'll just join them. It's a game, it's meant to be played."

"Porgramming department?" Kouichirou asked, "Because it sounds like the building layout is getting to you."

Granden smiled.

Returning to seriousness, Kouichirou continued, "But I get the feeling we'll be stuck here a while. Has anyone sent out a message to join the players?"

"No, but most people have had the idea. I guess I should be the one to put it into words." He began manipulating menus that Kouichirou couldn't see.

Kouichirou took the time to look through his menu again. The time was 12:51. Right now, his father was probably sleeping in some hotel on the other side of the world, while his mother and sister were probably finishing lunch. He'd left a note in Asuna's room, telling her that she could use his NerveGear to join the game, but now he almost hoped she didn't listen to it. Yui's panicked face flashed through his mind - he didn't want Asuna to be caught up in whatever was going to happen here.

Well, he couldn't control that now. He would just have to be there for her if she entered the game. He did have one tool that no one else did - the player list. He opened it, looking down a list of names of Argus employees, with his own name near the bottom - Yuuki Kouichirou.

That was the name of his account username, not his player name. It seemed the list had usernames, then. It seemed the administrator privilege level, -2, was glitched, though; Kouichirou couldn't examine anything in the list. He wouldn't be able to connect player names to usernames.

It wouldn't make a difference for players, who didn't have the ability to change their account name - it could currently only be accessed through Argus's internal network. It would be more useful for the developers to be able to tell who was online by name, so it was likely this was never changed leading up to the launch of the game.

Kouichirou scrolled up through the list. All the names were long full names, as no players could log on yet, and all Argus employees used their real names for their accounts. That should have been true, but one name stuck out.

Instead of a first and last name, this was clearly a username - Irae.

* * *

 **A/N:** This section was written several months ago, and simply re-edited today. There were some thing I edited out that really made me realize how much of an idiot I am. For example, calling Nazo "?" (pronounced "question mark man"). -_-

Of course, the next chapter is another that requires a complete rewrite. I should probably do that before the day I'm going to post it. Unlike last chapter.


	6. Chapter 5

The pale boar charged straight for Asuna, a mass of muscle and tusks and fur. Asuna swallowed her panic and leapt out of the way. She tried to turn around, but found herself too tired, and simply slumped to the ground. She watched as Lisbeth tried to land a hit against the raging beast, but failed to get completely out of the way. The boar's tusk knocked her to the ground as it rushed past.

A dark brown rut was carved into the ground a few seconds later as the boar slid to a halt a dozen meters away. It seemed just as tired as Asuna felt, with scratches and cuts marking its sides, but it still turned and pawed the earth. It began to charge back toward the fallen Asuna and Lisbeth with a thundering sound.

Asuna pushed herself up from the ground. She still had enough strength to dodge one more time, but it would be close. In front of her, Lisbeth was also picking herself up. Asuna tensed as the boar drew closer-

An arrow flew from behind her and hit the boar right in the eye. The beast came crashing to the ground, its momentum carrying it forward to just in front of Lisbeth. A window came up in front of Asuna, congratulating her on the victory.

"That was a good fight," Tori called out as she walked to the fallen boar. "I think it's about time for a little break."

Asuna and Lisbeth both breathed a sigh of relief. This was their seventh boar, and they'd all been of the larger variety, having a height greater than their own. They'd spent a while fighting each one, and the fights were beginning to wear the group down.

Asuna's limbs felt like they were made of jelly. She clumsily returned her sword to her sheath, and oozed her way to the boar to sit next to Tori. Her energy seemed to be pouring out of her legs as she walked, and she half-expected to be able to see a puddle of energy trailing behind her if she were to look. She felt jealous of Lisbeth - she was already in front of the boar.

"So, what are you guys thinking of the game so far?" Tori asked as she recovered her arrow from the boar's eye.

"I'd be feeling a little better if you weren't driving us like slaves," Lisbeth groaned from her position lying on the ground. "Sitting in the back and only intervening to steal the kills."

"Glad to see you're liking it," Tori said cheerily. "This was the last boar we needed to finish our quest anyway, so we'll be taking it a little easier from here. I just wanted to finish a quest before the opening ceremony takes place."

"Opening ceremony?" Lisbeth asked.

"I don't know what it is either, but we have a few more minutes." Tori replied. "Anyway, Asuna, you've been rather quiet. What are you thinking so far?"

Asuna gave a tired smile. "I haven't felt this tired in a while, but at the same time it's pretty… adventurous to be fighting like this. With swords and…" she trailed off. Really, her sword still felt a little awkward when she swung it around, like she was just a kid playing around with a stick. Now she thought about it, that was exactly what she was doing, but that was more fun than she had ever expected.

"It's nice to get away from reality every once in a while," Tori agreed. "Here, things are like a fresh start. What you did back home doesn't matter here, just your skills and determination."

Everyone was quiet for a moment as they enjoyed the world around them. Finally, Lisbeth asked, "Asuna, you didn't say when you had to leave the game. It's a school night, right?"

Asuna didn't want to think about having to go back home - she had just spent the last few hours doing exactly what she had told her mother she would never do. "I'm fine staying here as long as you guys are here," Asuna said.

"Great, because we're playing all night," Tori smirked.

"Sleep is for the week," Lisbeth agreed. "Get it? Because…" she trailed off when she saw the others' faces.

Asuna hadn't really been in contact with this kind of philosophy before. She went to an all-girls private school, where she'd been surrounded by people that cared only for social acceptance and academic success. It felt strange to talk with those that thought about their lives so differently. She could begin to understand Kouichirou's talks about how there was more to life than school, how she should try something new.

While Asuna was thinking of that, a window appeared before her. It read, ｢Server-wide announcement. Teleporting in 5...｣

Church bells rang in the distance. The numbers in the window ticked down to zero. The three girls were engulfed in light, and the plains and the nearby forest disappeared into a haze of blue. When they could see again, they were standing in the courtyard they'd spawned in amid a sea of other players. A few had their weapons out, and had the disappointed looks of those whose fights had been interrupted by the teleport. Most, though, were eagerly looking around in anticipation, or looking for friends they'd been with moments ago. The ringing cacophony of the bells died away.

The sun had been inching toward the horizon, and now the the courtyard was painted in a faint orange light. With the grand cathedral was on the eastern end of the courtyard, and so its windows were dazzled by the fading image of the sun.

The bell at the top of the right tower of the cathedral flashed as it caught a beam of the sun. It sounded once, silencing the crown. Then again, and again, twelve times in total.

Asuna heard someone nearby whisper, "Yes, _very_ subtle."

The next thing Asuna knew, someone was calling out to look into the sky. She looked as well, and saw a flashing red hexagon. Squinting, she could make out some text on it:

｢System announcement｣.

Tori's hand tapped Asuna's shoulder, and she turned around.

"Listen, you two. Something's off. I'm going to need you to listen carefully for whatever is said around you, look for anything that's suspicious. I'll be right back." With that, Tori slipped through the crowd.

Lisbeth turned to Asuna, with a hint of worry playing in her eyes. Asuna asked her, "Do you know anything about that?"

Lisbeth shrugged, "Her intuition was always scary good. I'm thinking-"

She was cut off by a gasp from the crowd. The sky was dyed red, and Asuna saw that the hexagon had spawned countless others around it, forming a red blanket that domed over the courtyard. Asuna began to feel a little worried.

As they watched, crimson liquid began to seep from the gaps between the tiles of the dome. Columns of viscous red reached for the the ground, before bending toward each other. They met, pouring their essence into a bubble that hovered between the towers of the cathedral. Within a few more moments, features emerged from the amorphous blob, defining a hooded colossus hovering in front of the crowd. His body was concealed in the deep red robe, and the hood kept his face hidden in shadow.

The figure remained silent for a few moments. Asuna took the opportunity to scan around her, trying to see what everyone was thinking. A lot of people were grinning and chatting, calling out the game's over-the-top introductory sequence. Two figures nearby were different, though.

Tori was talking in hushed tones with a man a few meters away. She seemed quite agitated, though the man made no indication of his emotional state. Asuna strained her ears, and caught a few words:

"All I want is for you to leave me alone."

"I make no promises, Trick," the man whispered to Tori's retreating back.

Even though Tori caught Asuna's eyes, she still took a while getting back. She seemed shaken, and her gesture to the floating figure seemed as much to ensure someone was listening as to turn Asuna's attention away from herself.

In the few seconds this took place, the figure began to speak. "Players, welcome to my world… My name is Kayaba Akihiko, and I am currently the one and only person that can control this world.

"Some of you may have noticed already that the logout feature has been disabled. This is not a bug, but a demonstration of your new reality. For you cannot leave the world of Aincrad until the game has been beaten. Aincrad is your reality now, and no reality is complete without death."

Cries erupted from the crowd. Some were furiously checking their menus, looking for a logout button. Some were laughing nervously, some facing this revelation with stony expressions. Still others attempted to leave the courtyard, only to find a wall of hexagonal tiles spring up to block their paths. The figure paused his speech as the noise negated any possibility of hearing him.

Asuna glanced at her two friends. How were they reacting? Would they still let her stay with them even after all this? They both seemed to be unfazed on the surface, but Asuna could see Tori clenching her fists and Lisbeth quaking slightly in her boots. Asuna didn't even know how she looked right now. Was she pale, were her eyes watering? The world that she had spent the last several hours in suddenly seemed so distant and impersonal. She wasn't even sure if she was seeing reality.

Tori seemed to notice the state of the two girls around her, and she put her hands on their shoulders once more. "We're going to make it through this," she said calmly. "We will not give up. Now, Lisbeth, you listen closely to anything else Crimson Hood up there has to say. Asuna, you check the crowd around us. If there's anyone getting violent, tell me and we'll try to get away. If you see anyone suspicious, watch them carefully and tell me about them later. Once the barriers are down, we'll try to get away quickly and find somewhere safe."

Tori's hand moved from Asuna and Lisbeth's shoulders to clasp their hands.

Relief began to flow through Asuna. She wasn't going to be abandoned. Tori had everything under control. It didn't matter that it might not be true, what mattered was that someone was taking charge and was giving her a simple task that would help everyone.

She immediately began looking through the crowd, with listening to Kayaba Akihiko as a secondary goal. Around them, there were a few people that fell to the ground as the announcement resumed, and people had to crowd a little closer to give those people some room, but there wasn't any major violence in their immediate vicinity. The crowd was more defeated than defiant, and Asuna caught a few of Kayaba's statements that helped her understand why. He mentioned that people had already died from trying to log off, that there was a panic in the real world that was now so far away. It chilled Asuna's heart as much as she saw it affected others, but she had the warm hand of a friend on her side. She had someone to rely on, someone to give her strength.

There were a few people that reacted oddly, though. Asuna caught a glimpse of the man who'd spoken with Tori, slipping through the crowd while hardly paying Kayaba any attention. A girl with a tiny frame was standing tall, systematically scanning everyone around her. That girl's gaze met Asuna's; a cold, calculating stare that sent ice into Asuna's eyes. The girl's eyes were a dull violet, a detail that stuck out to Asuna amid the chaotic crowd. The girl's gaze lingered, before she nodded slightly as if Asuna had passed some kind of test. As Asuna looked, the man who'd been slipping stealthily through the crowd earlier had made his way to this girl, whispering something in her ear before diving back into the crowd. The girl wheeled to look back at Kayaba, and froze like that.

Before Asuna could take note of anything else, a flash of white light burst through the crowd. It was followed by another, then several. First the briefest trickle, then a veritable flood of blue light engulfed the crowd. More cries erupted from the crowd, culminating into one rolling roar.

When the light cleared, there were still just as many people in the courtyard, but everyone's appearance had been changed completely.

Kayaba's words sounded through the gasps of the crowd, "I have restored your appearances to their true forms. It is _you_ that have come to this reality, not your avatars…"

Asuna stopped listening for a moment while she tried to get another look at her surroundings. Her hand was still clutching Tori's, though when she looked she saw that Tori looked a little different. Her pink hair was replaced by a messier head of black hair, though her face retained an aura of sophistication.

"Scan through the crowd one more time," Tori instructed calmly. "I'll only feel safe once we get out of here."

Asuna did as instructed. It seemed restoring everyone's real-world faces was quite the blow to a lot of players. More of them were looking at their feet, dejected. It seemed that the game's heroes that had once been able to do anything had been replaced with a crowd of lost children.

Once Asuna felt sure that no player-induced problems would come their way, she returned her attention to Kayaba.

"And now, one final explanation," he droned on. "This world is as a god, and as any god, it has chosen its agents. Seven «Saints» have been given unique powers that may aid you in your quest. If they all work together, they may even set you free before the game has reached its end." Kayaba lingered on this point to draw attention to it. "However, they may also seek to imprison you here forever. Anyone who serves a Saint may receive part of their power, but anyone who kills a Saint can take it all for themselves. This includes the power to decide - to keep everyone here, or to return everyone home.

"This concludes the tutorial for the official launch of «Sword Art Online». Players, I wish you the best of luck."

With that, Kayaba seemed to deflate, and the hood of the robe began falling down. The cloak and gloves faded into nothingness as they drifted down. The light lost its red tint as the dome disappeared, and the fading light of day returned to their field of vision.

Silence pervaded for a second.

Then cries, screams, and yells again consumed the crowd. Tori wasted no time in dragging Lisbeth and Asuna away, running to the nearest side street.

Asuna only half paid attention to where they were going. The city just turned into a mess of alleys and houses that rushed by in a blur. Just this morning she'd been living a normal life. She'd had lunch with her mother; they'd talked about school. Now she was being dragged through the alleys of a medieval city as someone she'd only known a few hours tried to find somewhere safe for them to stay. The absurdity of it all crashed through her mind, and she found herself losing hold of what was real.

"Asuna!" Tori yelled. "Pull yourself together."

Asuna roused herself from her stupor. She must have tripped, because she was lying prone on the cobbled street. Lisbeth offered her hand to help her out, and Asuna accepted. Lisbeth seemed just as shocked as Asuna, and wasn't saying much.

Later, Asuna would recall that they had only made it through the situation as well as they did because of Tori. She was constantly drawing their attention to what they could control, turning their attention away from the panic that was ready to smother them in its crazed grasp.

Tori had managed to lead them to where they'd found the merchants that sold Asuna her sword. It turned out to be a good decision, as Hetz managed to lead them to a cheap inn, and helped them settle down before telling Tori where he could be found in future. He disappeared before Asuna could really process what was happening.

There were only two beds in the room. Asuna tried to volunteer to sleep on the floor, reasoning in her stupor that the sisters were already doing so much for her, she couldn't ask one of them to do it. Tori refused her, however.

"Neither of you are in a state to sleep on a hard floor. Get some rest, we'll talk about everything tomorrow when we've had a chance to process what's happened."

The bed was very different from what Asuna was used to, narrow and rough. But for all its foreignness, it was still a bed. It was still a safe place in Asuna's mind.

When Asuna reflected on this time much later, she realized just how unsafe the inn felt. The walls were thin, the beds were rough, and the rooms were small. The tiny window let in just enough sound to scare them, and just enough cold air to chill them. Yet on that first night, she'd felt safe. Tori knew something about places and minds, and though the words were probably different, Asuna imagined it to be this:

 _When the greatest enemy was one's own mind, a place was just as safe as one thought it to be._

* * *

 **A/N** : This chapter is pretty old, and I remember thinking this was one of the better ones I'd written at the time. The focus was primarily on character development, just to give substance to what would otherwise be a plot dump. I also had a lot of fun with wordplay and imagery, though I'm not the best judge on how well that worked.

I was actually going to post a different chapter, which takes place chronologically before this one, but decided against it. That chapter needs a rewrite, and it focuses on different parts of the story than I want to work on right now. Instead, I decided to finally get moving forward through time - this is chapter five, and still day 1 in the game. It's fine, everything will go to hell by the end of day 2.


	7. Chapter 6

The streets were chaotic. Players were crying in corners, begging others for help. Others were putting on brave faces and distancing themselves, setting simple goals that didn't consider far into the future.

Yuuki wasn't sure how to react.

She'd spent her entire life trapped in a hospital bed, and she hated it. Then, should she have hated her current imprisonment? At the same time, this 'prison' was open, and gave back what her diseased body had lost.

In the end, though, she still had her sister. For that, at least, she was happy.

Ran had led Yuuki away from the square that had turned into a crucible. If the city didn't protect players from harm, it could have turned into a bloodbath. Instead, the two sisters found themselves walking down a street lined with silent, defeated people.

"Where are we going?" Yuuki asked after a while.

"Dunno," Ran replied. She seemed somewhat dazed, though Yuuki wasn't sure if she was tired, defeated, or was just taking some time to process what had happened. Yuuki wasn't sure that it mattered; Ran was always someone who could pull herself together at a moment's notice.

They continued wandering aimlessly through the city. This place would be their home for a while; it was better to begin exploring now.

"Do you think we should find some place to stay?" Yuuki asked.

"I'm not really tired. Are you?"

"No. But it's still better to find some place to sleep sooner rather than later."

"We'll be fine."

The evening wore on, the last remnants of red light disappearing with the sun. Fewer and fewer of the panicked players were visible around the streets, though that might just have been because of how far the two girls had wandered.

A shadow flitted across the street in front of them, so fast that neither sibling could discern anything about the image. Another followed it, a black blur in the dark.

They continued walking, occasionally spotting another black image dart around the rooftops or the periphery of the streets. Still, the sisters kept walking.

"Are you sure we shouldn't have found somewhere to stay?" Yuuki asked.

"Don't worry about it," Ran said.

"I am worrying about it. You're normally rushing around to accomplish something or other, but now you're not doing anything."

"Just give me a while," Ran said with a frown.

Yuuki decided to remain silent.

Something was definitely wrong. Normally, Ran would have recovered by now. She would have given a suggestion on what they should do. Instead, they just kept wandering aimlessly about the city. Yuuki was beginning to think that they were tracing a large circle; they'd certainly made enough turns in the same direction to turn them around at some point. Something had to happen for Aiko's sake, but Yuuki didn't know what.

The next black shape that appeared on the street stopped. The outline of a tall man tilted its head, regarding the two sisters standing otherwise alone in the street. Ran just continued walking to meet the man. It took a moment for Yuuki to realize what had just happened.

Ran hadn't been wandering aimlessly. This person in front of them had seen them before. He might have been one of the first ones to dart across the street. Yuuki wasn't even sure how her sister had managed to follow them across the city, but now she felt relieved; Ran hadn't lost direction.

The figure standing before them stood still for a moment, still half-hidden in the shadows of the city. When Ran had drawn a bit closer, he disappeared down a narrow side street.

Ran followed him. Yuuki wasn't sure how, but she followed that man's trail without ever catching sight of him again. They continued at the same leisurely walking pace, but Ran always knew which turn to take, even after Yuuki was convinced they had lost the man entirely.

Finally, their system of alleys widened out to another main street. Yuuki's eyes darted around to take in her surroundings. Down the street to their left, she could make out a portion of the string of arches that lined the central plaza. They'd just traced a long loop around the city, coming back to where they'd been.

The man Ran had been following was gone. However, there was someone else on the street, a man slowly making his way from the plaza down the street. He hadn't noticed the two sisters, as his back was to them.

As if expecting to meet this person right then, Ran turned and followed the man without a moment's hesitation, a surprised Yuuki in tow. The man took a few moments to notice the approaching sisters, but when he did he turned around hurriedly.

"Yu - hello," he said, somewhat surprised. "Ah, I thought you were someone else."

Ran smiled. "No, I'm Ran. The quieter version of me beside me is Yuuki."

 _What was she doing?_ Yuuki thought to herself. They'd just come across this person by chance, but Ran was talking comfortably and trusting him.

"A pleasure to meet you," he said. "I'm Inkling."

Everyone was silent for a while. This Inkling person didn't seem to be the very talkative type, but Yuuki had the feeling he had something else to say.

While she waited for Inkling to pull his thoughts together, Yuuki quickly glanced around their surroundings again. If Ran was the sister that lead them through unfamiliar situations, Yuuki was the one who watched her back. Normally, there was nothing wrong. This time, however, she spotted something.

Someone else was watching their exchange. In a shadowed alley across the road stood a thin old man, pale as the moon and with a hooked nose and bald head that gave him the appearance of some kind of monster of the night. He noticed Yuuki's glance, and raised a thin finger to his lips. There was a regal or perhaps commanding presence about him that gave Yuuki the feeling that she should comply.

All that had happened in about a second. The man, Inkling, had finally taken a deep breath in preparation to speak. Yuuki returned her attention to him, though she kept the old man in the corner of her eye.

"Some friends and I have found a place for players to get some rest. It's a safe place. If you haven't found an inn yet, they're all taken, so if you want…"

Ran nodded. "Are you sure?"

"We set the place up just for people like you." Inkling had a somewhat guilt-ridden look on his face. Either he was trying to make up for something, or he was about to do something terrible to them.

Yuuki stealthily glanced back to the man in the alley while Ran voiced her agreement. The man nodded to Yuuki. He seemed to be trying to tell her, 'it's okay.' Yuuki wasn't sure if she could trust him either. It was Ran's judgement that made her agree with going along with Inkling.

While they were led across the city to the safe place, Inkling brought something else up. "Actually, there's something that I could use some help with."

"Go on," Ran said.

"Well… My sister is also in the game, but I haven't found her yet. I just want to make sure she's okay, and not totally lost."

"Could you describe her?"

"She's a bit shorter than me, with long orange hair. Her name is Asuna."

"Asuna. Got it," Ran said. "I haven't seen anyone like that, but I'll keep my eyes peeled."

Inkling seemed to shrink a little. Yuuki could sympathize with him; if she'd lost Ran, she'd be totally lost as well. Inkling gave the impression of being as quiet as herself, but here he was trying to be as brave as Ran for the sake of his sister. He was struggling, and he was much older than the sisters. Yuuki wasn't sure she'd manage to do nearly as well herself.

They walked much of the way in silence. Yuuki looked around them some more, but there was no one moving. The black shadows and the pale man were nowhere to be seen, though Yuuki felt they were still rushing about the city, embroiled in their own lives and conflicts.

Eventually, they came to a place that was slightly brighter and had a few more people. Inkling led them to a warehouse with two other people standing on either side of the door, one shielding a candle from any wind that might blow through the city. They nodded to Inkling in a friendly manner as he led the sisters in.

The inside of structure was large enough to fit Yuuki's old house three times over. What little light came from a few candles illuminated several people working to make this place into a shelter of sorts. The warehouse was largely empty of goods but for some old, empty crates stacked around the perimeters and piles of grass collected from the fields around the city. People of all ages were shifting crates around into makeshift walls and piling the tall grass into makeshift beds. Many children around Yuuki's age were already asleep in their own little stalls.

"You could probably get right to sleep," Inkling said, gesturing them toward an empty stall.

"No, we have to contribute to the effort," Yuuki said, breaking her silence. Ran nodded her agreement.

Inkling agreed, and had them go to an older man who was organizing a few people to distribute the tall grass to different stalls. Yuuki and Ran were quickly put to work, making a few more stalls for those that were too tired to continue. It had been a tiring and stressful day, and it was already quite late; Yuuki wasn't surprised that even some fit people were already burned out.

As they carried armfuls of the grass along, Ran said to Yuuki, "What did you see?"

"Huh?"

"You always go quiet whenever you see something. What was it?"

Yuuki looked around to make sure there was no one nearby to overhear. She wasn't sure why she was so worried about that, but she did it anyway.

"When you were talking with Inkling, there was someone else watching us," Yuuki explained.

"Go on."

"Some creepy pale guy that told me to stay quiet."

"You took that a bit too seriously," Ran laughed.

Yuuki shot her a glare.

They continued with their work for a while. Yuuki was already feeling drained, and though Ran wouldn't admit it, she definitely was as well. They carried on, making however many beds they could, but they were told to stop pretty soon. It was obvious they were tired, and no amount of hiding it would get the adults to agree to let them go on.

As they collapsed on their last impromptu bed, Yuuki laughed.

"What is it?" Ran asked.

"I was just thinking how this is just like how it was a few years ago. We'd always try to convince mom to let us stay up a few more minutes, to prove we were grown up."

"We _are_ grown up now. We decide when we fall asleep."

Yuuki shrugged indifferently. Even if Ran couldn't see it in the dark, she could probably tell from the rustling of the grass.

"It's funny how you can feel that way now and here. This is nowhere like home, but… I agree with you. It _is_ just like home," Ran said more quietly. Yuuki could tell there were probably tears in her eyes.

Back then, Yuuki and Ran would always carry on talking with each other after the lights were turned out. Mom didn't like it, but they could always hear her footsteps approaching the door. It was their dad, who walked quietly up to the door without them noticing, that reminded them to go to sleep. Now, though, there was no one to remind them to go to sleep, to tuck them in even if they claimed they were too old for that. Their conversation tonight would just peter out with one last reminder that this wasn't their home, that their nightly ritual would never repeat again.

Trying to keep them talking, Yuuki asked, "By the way, how did you lead us through those alleys?"

Ran shrugged this time. "After I saw a few of those guys in black, I was reminded of something Andy said."

Andy was a friend they'd made once in the hospital. He was much older than the sisters, but he always made the time for them. He was someone Yuuki always looked up to.

Ran continued, "It was… 'whenever you're totally lost, faith will guide you through anything. You just need to discover what to place your faith in.'"

"I remember that. We'd asked him if he believed in god."

"He never gave us a straight answer," Ran laughed. "Anyway, I remembered that."

"You just followed wherever you thought those guys were going, then?"

A rustling of grass; that must have been Ran nodding. "It paid off, too. That last one, who stopped in front of us. He got us back to the central square, and we met Inkling."

"We lost that guy in a few seconds," Yuuki accused.

"It was the straight line approach."

"While that instinct of yours got us through all that, I'm really beginning to question your methods."

Ran laughed. "Don't you always?"

Their conversation trailed off a little. Suddenly, the sisters were reminded of how something was missing. They weren't home, and there was no one here to complete their old nightly routine. The bed, the stall, the ceiling all seemed to grow more foreign as Yuuki's consciousness slowly ebbed away. She was suddenly aware of how much colder the air here was. This wasn't how her day should have ended. After being able to relive just this one moment, her heart ached at being reminded that it was just a moment, a fragment of the past.

As Ran had said, they were grown up now. They made their own decisions, they didn't need support.

Then, Yuuki heard a voice. "Get to sleep, you two. Tomorrow's another big day." A heavy cloak fell over them.

Yuuki and Ran were grown up now. They didn't need someone to tuck them in. If that was true, then why did Yuuki's face feel wet?


	8. Chapter 7

｢I heard your the best place to go for information. Do you know if Kayaba was telling the truth? PLS RESPOND.｣

Argo sighed and just copy-pasted her standardized answer to this question. She'd been receiving messages like this one for hours, and the lack of grammar was really starting to get on her nerves. To say the evening was a busy one was an understatement; she'd been desperately running around the city trying to find more of her old contacts while having to respond to these desperate PMs. She couldn't block them; these were potential future contacts and customers.

Somehow, Argo never thought her information business in a virtual world would ever get so big. Yet for all the trust these messages put in her, she really just needed to be left alone right now. She needed to think.

What are my goals? What am I doing to achieve them? This was a mantra that had gotten Argo through her school life, and she still repeated it to herself whenever she found herself pressured.

Goal one: protect close contacts and players; they're the ones that will get us out of the game.

Goal two: investigate the «Saints» Kayaba talked about.

Goal three: investigate Kayaba, the game world, anything that could speed our progression.

These were subject to change, but Argo thought this the best course forward. Protect the safe but slow route forward, while investigating extra energy into side projects that could speed their return home. Later, she might have to deal with conflicts between players, but that could wait for another day. Right now, she was investigating.

During the opening ceremony, something had happened. Argo wasn't sure how many people noticed, but it couldn't have been more than she could count on her hands. It came during the appearance change. A huge wave of blue light had shone through the crowd as their avatars were changed out when the avatar of Kayaba had flickered for a moment. Argo had thought for a moment that her eyes were deceiving her; this scene lasted less than a second. However, there were two arguments for trusting her eyes. Firstly, she had great faith in her observational skills; it was why she played the way she did. Secondly, the tip. Someone in the crowd had whispered to her, "Kayaba has lost control. Watch closely." It was just a feeling, maybe even confirmation bias, but Argo felt that the second figure wasn't Kayaba.

Now, Argo was trying to investigate that development. In particular, she was tracking the man who gave her the tip.

She'd first caught sight of the man about half an hour ago. Blind luck, really; he'd been flying through a secluded back alley that Argo hadn't seen anyone else use before. Giving stealthy chase, Argo discovered his appearance hadn't changed with everyone else's. Perhaps he'd used his real face?

Right now he was in some ramshackle building in a side-alley. He hadn't run away; he'd been talking since he arrived. Argo was left watching from the shadows of the alley, unable to clearly hear what was being spoken inside. She'd examined the new header to her menu, but was ready to follow at a moment's notice.

Finally, the voices stopped. Argo could hear approaching footsteps. The man she was following appeared at the doorway. He looked carefully at his surroundings, causing Argo to shrink further into the shadows. He shouldn't have been able to see her, hidden behind debris near the corner of another alley.

"I know you're there," he said calmly and clearly.

Argo suppressed a gasp of surprise. Perhaps he was bluffing, just checking if anyone was spying on him? No, he stayed where he was with the air of a monarch waiting for a commoner. He wasn't leaving, but neither was he moving. Did he not know where Argo was?

This stalemate could have lasted forever. Argo intended to speak with him properly anyway. She stood up from her hiding place, regarding the man coldly. He merely looked back, no response evident on his face.

"Why were you following me?" he asked.

Argo took a few steps closer, extending her hand and speaking in a derisive tone, "My name is Argo, a pleasure to meet you."

His eyes flicked down to Argo's hand and back to her face. "I'll give you my name when you tell me why you were following me."

It seems someone wants to engage in dealing information, Argo thought with a smile. She dropped her hand; it had been more a test for friendliness than an actual greeting. "You gave me that tip during the opening ceremony. Why me, and how did you come across that information?"

The man sighed. "You're an information dealer, various sources and suspicions, and my name is Irae."

"That didn't tell me a lot," Argo prompted.

"Think on it." Irae began to walk down the alley. It wasn't the same lithe run that Argo had seen him employ on his way here; she took this to mean she was allowed to follow.

"So what exactly happened when the… other one appeared?" Argo asked. She assumed he'd seen the event himself, but wanted to be sure. If he described what she had seen, then Argo could be sure her eyes hadn't been fooling her.

"That was Kayaba being replaced. I don't know the specifics."

"Do you know who did it?"

"Valse, probably."

"Wait, Valse? Tall-ish, western looking?"

"I haven't actually met him, so I wouldn't know. All I do know is that you shouldn't trust him."

"Why should I trust you over him?"

"Don't trust me, trust the man back in the temple."

"Temple? You mean that wreck of a house we just left behind?"

"Yes. You should go there now; I have business to attend to."

Irae had led them to a larger alley, where he stopped. "I trust you can get back?"

"Don't insult me."

Irae nodded. He extended his hand to Argo. "I hope the information I gave counted toward some kind of credit."

"First rule of information dealing - always decide on the details of transaction before giving everything away. Though I suppose something could be worked out."

Argo sent the man a friend request and took his hand. Some aspect of Argo, the same aspect that had taken an interest in romantic art, imagined the scene as the feature to an old painting. Two dark figures, one tall and regal and the other small and discreet, shook hands in some remote alley where even the moonlight struggled to reach them. The image lingered in her mind for a moment, before Irae pulled his hand from hers. He accepted the friend request, nodded, and took off down the alley.

Argo's general impression of him was negative, but she had hope for improvement.

Argo returned to the… she refused to call that a temple. The battered form of the small building had to be an insult to whatever religion it was dedicated to. Perhaps it was just really old and had some kind of history. Still, Argo didn't expect much when she stepped inside.

She was surprised. While it wasn't pristine, it was small and comfortable with small green tinted windows high on the walls letting in beams of soft green light. A solitary candle was lit on a desk in the corner where a man sat reading a letter by its light. He didn't acknowledge Argo as she walked in.

Argo walked through through the empty pews and came to stand right in front of the desk. "Hello?"

The man merely raised a finger. Even under the warm candlelight, he still looked pale and somewhat unhealthy. Argo waited in silence. She had a lot she could be doing right now. Instead, she simply occupied herself checking through her PMs, occasionally glancing up to the midnight blue header of her menu.

"It seems another «Saint» has come to consult me," the man shocked Argo. His voice was soft, but it boomed in the silence of the night.

"How did you know?" He couldn't have seen the header marked «Argo, Saint of Two».

"My name is Verian, current master of the Garain Histories. I have experience dealing with saints."

"So you're an NPC?" Argo asked. He seemed real enough.

"Irae told me your mode of transference was through a game, and in that context, yes, I am an NPC. However, though you arrived here via a game, assuming this world remains so limited is a rather restricting worldview."

"Hence the death?"

"Hence the death."

I just had to start a conversation with know-it-all, Argo thought, frustrated.

"So, Irae told me you know something about Valse."

"A fair amount."

"Can you tell me what he's up to?"

"How long do you have?"

"I have to get some sleep eventually, but I can listen for a while."

Verian sighed. "I suppose we'll go for a walk; hopefully some details will be clearer in demonstration. Don't fool yourself into thinking that will be enough time to understand much."

He stood up from his desk, blowing out the candle. The temple took on an ethereal atmosphere as the faint green light became the only source of light. Argo suddenly understood why the temple hadn't been destroyed. Despite its vagrant outward appearance, the inside felt spiritual even to a pragmatic realist like Argo.

Verian began to speak as he began leading them out of the temple. "At his core, Valse is running. He intends to make Aincrad into a defensible location in which he can hide from his enemies. He, like you, has only come to reside here recently, and thus lacks the infrastructure and understanding to achieve his goals."

"You're saying he's another player?"

Verian shook his head. "Aincrad isn't just a tower of floors. It's a system of interwoven worlds, connected to each other linearly. You could argue that if the passages between floors didn't exist, each would exist as its own world. If, then, Aincrad is a collection of worlds, and you have come from another, isn't it reasonable to say that your world is part of this system?"

"You lost me."

"All you need to know is that the connections to Aincrad can come from more than one place. Valse came from a different place from you."

Argo nodded slowly. It made more sense to her than she let on; she simply wanted Verian to get back to the point. Even if she wasn't planning on selling this it was still useful to know.

"In several points in Aincrad's history, individuals have been chosen to act as «Saints» to determine the course of the system. Every time, they have been chosen as representatives of the goddesses, with one saint for each. This time, however, Valse has managed to choose the «Saints» himself. One of his reasons for doing this is to establish a network of powerful individuals loyal to him."

"He was talking about taking control," Argo thought aloud.

"Irae, on the other hand, has come to me seeking assistance in fighting him. While he may seem to work for people, his willingness to use underhanded methods was startling. You, as the «Saint of Two», the representative if Dephria, may choose to side by one of them, or to choose your own path."

None of these options seemed particularly appealing to Argo. She still didn't have enough information about either side to determine if they were useful to her, and she was never one to act as a leader. Somehow, Verian's statement that he wouldn't be able to tell her anything quickly made a bit more sense.

"Tell me what it means to be the «Saint of Two»."

"The gods place faith in their representatives to act in the way they feel is right. In other words, the only advice to be offered to you is to trust yourself."

"Useful," Argo commented dryly.

"As for ability… Dephria is the goddess of fear, of the unknown, and of the shadows. Her «Saints» normally have abilities pertaining to hiding and manipulating. If I didn't know there was a «Saint of Two» around, I wouldn't have been as watchful as I was; in other words, I wouldn't have been able to detect you if I didn't know you were already there."

So that was how Irae knew I was there, Argo thought. "Those are some keen eyes you have."

Verian laughed, more of a hoarse chuckle, really. "You've only been a «Saint» for a few hours; a few days from now, the achievement would be induplicable."

"What other gods are there? If you can guess my abilities from your knowledge, what will the other «Saints» be like?"

Verian laughed again. "Depending on which sect you subscribe to, there are anywhere from seven to thirty-two gods."

"You said it was the goddesses that chose the «Saints»?"

"The goddesses of the fifth, yes. Their main dominions are death, fear, chaos, pain, treachery, wisdom, and dominance, respectively. They each appear in different myths and are characterized differently."

A thought sprung into Argo's head. "If Aincrad is a place where magic is real, then are the gods also real? I mean, will I ever stumble upon one of these goddesses, I don't know, taking a bath somewhere?"

"If you knew that for certain, then it wouldn't be faith, would it?"

A figure in black darted across the alley in front of them. Argo didn't even have a chance to blink before it was gone.

"What was that?" she asked.

"Response."

Verian held a finger to his lips and led them forward. The main road was only a few meters ahead. He stopped Argo from wandering out, instead having her remain in the shadows with him as they waited. Seconds passed, almost a minute. A man began slowly walking down the street. Still, Verian did nothing.

Suddenly, two girls came running out of another alley across the street. Twin sisters it looked like, wearing starting gear. They were young, far too young to be trapped here with their lives on the line.

Somehow, though, they seemed far more… stable than the other players had been after the opening ceremony. Did they just not realize what was going on? Or perhaps they had some crazy mental flexibility?

The two girls spotted the man who was still walking by and quickly caught up with him. Even distantly, Argo could see that one of them was clearly leading the other forward. Perhaps they'd made it this far by relying on each other.

Argo turned to look to Verian to ask his opinion, but he merely he shook his head slightly, raising his finger to cover his lips. She looked back to see one of the twins, the girl bringing up the rear, looking straight at them. Observant. I should recruit her as a spy, Argo thought half-jokingly.

She waited until the girl looked away and the others became occupied with conversation before speaking. "They look like those pictures you see of wild animals on a savanna. Two grazing while one watches the surroundings."

Verian smiled and nodded.

In a few moments, the group of people moved on. Verian looked to where Argo was, or at least a point just left of her face. Argo realized he couldn't see her at all. He spoke as if to her face, "So why do you think I led you here?"

"Was it just to see that?" Argo asked. She checked her surroundings more carefully, noting that the central square was just down the street. That couldn't have been the main reason, could it?

"This was important. Every person you've seen on our little sojourn has been important to understanding the city and your choices. In particular, Irae. Just because he will go to any means for his goals doesn't mean all of his means are ruthless. He was the one who asked me to watch over those two girls and lead them to someone who could help them. That person was someone facing the same decisions as you; he has knowledge of the situation, and must decide how to act on it. Perhaps you could follow him, and learn from his course of action?"

"You make it sound like you lead them here."

"Remember the man dressed in black? I happen to command some respect among men of the black cloth; one of them did the leading. Now get going, or you'll lose them."

Argo looked down the street to the retreating backs of the friendly trio, and back to Verian.

"You'll have to tell me how you know all these things," Argo said.

"You may always find me at one of my temples."

Argo slipped out of the alley and darted after the man and the girls. She stuck to the shadows, realizing they hid her better than ever before. Maybe this whole «Saint» business wasn't a sham. She'd have to test it later.

In the meantime, she also had time to think about what her position meant. Her quarry moved at a slow pace and weren't easy to lose; Argo had no worries there. The black shadows that shifted across the rooftops and occasionally darted by on alleys paid no attention to her. Perhaps this 'hiding in the shadows' ability wasn't a sham.

Argo's course of action for now felt obvious, and irritatingly so. She'd been presented with two extreme options: Valse's path of absolute control or Irae's path of rebellion. Her goals were to support herself and those that could clear the game. Throwing her weight behind either side would simply lead to deaths, and to slower progress while clearing the game. What's more, her abilities were attuned to someone that hid in the shadows and manipulated people from there. Whoever gave her this power had a clear goal in mind for her.

Verian had said Valse was the one that chose her as the «Saint of Two». Did that mean the obvious course of events was the one that helped him? Or did he want Argo to join him more decisively, and use the threat of exposure to a player base to control her? It would only take one greedy gang of players thinking they should possess the title for themselves, or one righteous idiot to think Argo wasn't doing a good enough job. It was certainly a slippery slope.

If she didn't take the obvious course of action, what would she do then? Form her own side? If Argo possessed any leadership qualities, she would have formed a company in the real world right now. Instead, she retreated into games, studies, and other introverted activities.

The trio arrived at a warehouse with a couple watching the entrance. Why do you need people there? Players are invulnerable, at least for now. Use your manpower properly! Argo thought. Then, Of course, I'm not going to say anything because I'm a useless schmuck. Maybe Verian was trying to get me to change that?

The trio disappeared inside with nothing but a friendly nod from the guards. Argo waited a moment, before approaching herself.

The guards didn't really seem worried. They merely asked what her name was and how she found her way here. Argo saw no reason to lie about her name, though the guards apparently didn't know of her. She was allowed inside without any problems.

Inside was a big open area some players were turning into a temporary shelter. Rotted crates were being used to make stalls, and some players were bringing in tall grass from the plains to make bedding. Argo checked how far they walked against her mental map of the city and realize this wasn't far from the west gate; it was quite a good idea to use grass like this.

Argo quickly picked out the man from the people that were working. She quickly caught up to him as he walked up to an older man Argo guessed was the leader.

"Still no luck, Inkling?" the older player asked.

Inkling?

The man shook his head. "I'll go grab some sleep; searching's tired me out."

Argo quickly caught up with Inkling as he made his way to an empty stall. He didn't seem to notice her until she tapped on his shoulder.

"Yes?"

"You're Inkling, right?"

Inkling nodded tiredly. The question from the older man seemed to have drained him as much as a ten kilometer swim.

"Someone told me you found out about something concerning the game. Before everyone logged on."

Inkling quickly tried to blink away his fatigue. Argo swore he aged backwards from a thirty-five year old to a man still in his twenties. "Who told you this?"

Should I tell him? "Valse."

"Never heard of him."

"So? What did you find out?"

"Well… I can't really tell you that?"

"Is it because you work at Argus?"

Inkling was shocked. "How did you know that one?"

"This enterprise here is clearly well organized; you have guards, grass harvesters, scouts, and managers. A high end guild from the beta or another game wouldn't be this organized just a few hours after the game came online - beta friend data was wiped. Building here has been going at least a few hours, making the time window even smaller. Ergo, you were organized before the launch."

"Don't tell anyone that. If the players knew the devs were-"

"I'm not an idiot, and I know what information isn't appropriate to sell."

"…You're The Rat."

"Uh huh. Now tell me what you knew."

"Some of the devs were logged in on the local server, just checking the game out. They weren't coming back, and I found out their admin privileges were downgraded. I thought it was just a minor problem, and logged in when I thought it was fixed. It wasn't."

"Quite thorough of you, to check account status before logging in after them," Argo commented dryly. If he was just methodical, he would get insulted or shrug it off. If there was something else at work…

Bingo - he winced. It was a tiny, momentary convulsion, but it was enough.

"I was just really worried."

What a liar. "Why didn't the public hear about it?"

"I logged in about a half hour before the game went live. I don't know what the brass were doing in that time, but there wasn't a lot of it. Believe me when I say no one knew what Kayaba was up to. We're just as trapped as you."

"Was there anything else?"

"Well… I'm not sure how helpful it is, but my attempt at a fix did something." Inkling opened his menu and fiddled with it until it was reveal to Argo as well.

That eliminates the chance that he's another «Saint», Argo thought. It would be too lucky if a «Saint» just showed that telltale header to someone else. In fact, did anyone aside from the «Saints» know about it?

Inkling opened up an administrator tab and showed how all the options were disabled except one: a player list. It wasn't particularly useful; many people had already reported the slab of rock in the main cathedral with every player's name on it. The first few to die already had their names crossed off with a time and cause of death marked underneath.

"It's not much, but it displays account names rather than character names."

"Which means?"

"For regular players, it's a normal player list. For an employee, though, it will have our account name, which we used to link different characters. We had to use our real names for the account to allow for easier communic-"

"You said you didn't know how helpful this was?" Argo asked fiercely. Her mind was already making plans.

"All the employees are already ga-"

"We could use this to track down Kayaba Akihiko!"

The two of them stared at the list as its full importance dawned to them.

Argo had a thread. If she knew how this thread connected to the whole, how it was a part of the web the players had caught themselves in, she could use this to begin unraveling it. Perhaps she didn't need to side with either Irae or Valse; she could just end the players' imprisonment on her own.

* * *

 **A/N** : So I'm leaving for a vacation... technically today. Which is why this chapter is being posted at 3 AM where I live, unedited and unlooked through. However, in my defense, I shouldn't have to edit for anything other than language/grammar/spelling mistakes, as the chapter was already written once before. In fact, most of the chapters I've uploaded have been complete rewrites of what I used to consider a buffer. Version 2.0 if you will. In other words, these chapters are written in the two or three days before the upload, based on older versions written months ago.

For example, the last chapter was a rewrite combining two very short sections of the "buffer chapters" (old version), with some new content added in based on chapters I wrote later. And of course, feels. I hope I did those right. I even skipped the A/N just to let the feels sink in. Not sure if it worked. :P


	9. Chapter 8

Irae cursed his memory. He cursed the game for making such realistic scenes. What he saw, felt, and heard right now would never be forgotten. The stickiness of the blood oozing down his arms. The rustle of the curtains that he'd brushed past moments before. The crunching of the crystal shards under his feet. The spasming of the man's body at his feet.

The look of shock and fear on the face of the child at the entrance to the room.

He'd killed before, but this was the first time he'd been spotted by someone else. What's more, it was a child. He had vivid memories of every person he'd ended, but this memory would be etched far more deeply in his mind.

Verian hadn't said this target had a son. Now Irae had to deal with the consequences.

He could kill the boy. It wouldn't even be challenging at this point - the boy was immobilized by fear. Still, he was young, perhaps eleven or so, and Irae disliked killing children.

He could escape. The room was dark; the candles had been blown out by the gust of wind that accompanied Irae through the window. It was unlikely the boy could distinguish anything more than Irae's build. This would have been the best course of action.

 _How narrow-minded. It's not wonder you were only let out to kill. There's more to this than just your safety._

Irae's hands curled into fists. The boy probably didn't see it, and Irae's voice remained steady as he spoke.

"I suppose you're the son of the Count Palatine?"

"What have you done?" the boy asked.

Irae looked at the body that had fallen to the floor. "I killed him."

The boy fell to his knees. His arms were around his ears as he wailed, "Why?!"

Irae stood still while he waited for the boy to calm down. He knew the boy would never fully recover, but perhaps the boy would be able to forge the image of normalcy, at least for a moment. Pushing for answers before the boy could steel himself wouldn't do either party any good.

 _You were in this boy's position once._

Irae's fists clenched again momentarily, but he didn't move forward.

Several moments passed. The boy didn't make any major movements, he simply trembled in the corner of the room. Irae decided he had to speak now, or there would be no point in staying here. He advanced. The boy flinched, and started shuffling back on his knees. Terror contorted his face.

Irae crouched down in front of the boy, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I know I don't seem to be the most trustworthy person right now, but I need you to listen."

The boy didn't calm down. Irae would have been surprised if he did.

"I'm going to have to ask you what was in that… crystal your father broke open."

The boy shook his head and tried to retreat farther. Irae positioned himself between the boy and the door, but otherwise didn't back the boy into a corner. He didn't want to know what would happen if the boy was truly desperate.

"What was in the crystal?" Irae asked again.

The boy started crawling around the room, eventually coming to his father's side. He placed his hand on his father's chest, as if hoping his torn heart was still beating. After several minutes, the boy began to calm down. His sobs died down. He closed his father's eyelids.

Irae stood exactly as he had for the last fifteen minutes, and he was prepared to stand still for an hour more. Finally, after what the boy must have seen as several lifetimes, the silence was broken.

"Why?"

"A few reasons."

The boy stood and turned toward Irae. "What did he ever do to you?"

"I've been in this city for a matter of hours, and I have seen slaves worked to exhaustion, beggars starving by the streets, and players captive in a foreign world. I'm sure they never did anything to your father, but that didn't stop him from turning a blind eye to all his city's problems."

In truth, Irae's feelings were not so sound. He had been pressed for time; he didn't know how much power Valse already had. He had simply hoped to create a shock in the structure of the city large enough to throw his opponents off balance.

"You complain of the state of the city, after spending less than a day here?" the boy asked quietly, hostility dripping from his voice.

Irae sighed. He had hoped the boy hadn't seen the purple hexagon that had protected Irae from the Count's letter opener. At least he now knew his player status was revealed.

He pulled out the book. " _A Brief History of the Pfalzgarad_ , by Seimos. Quite the illuminating read."

"What player are you to have that kind of book already?" the boy asked.

"A well-connected one."

From what Irae could see in the dark, the boy was surprised.

"I don't suppose you've heard of the announcement to the players a few hours ago?" Irae asked. "Quite revealing. It displayed the methods of some of the forces aiming for absolute control. It also signaled the return of the seven saints discussed in this book."

The boy retreated again. Evidently he knew his history enough to know what that meant. Irae continued, "I also learned recently that one of these forces has been here a while. Your father was the ruler of the city, but nothing was done about this enemy. Therefore, your father had one of three flaws. First, he could have been unaware of the enemy, in which case he wasn't knowledgeable enough to be a ruler. Second, he could have been unable to stop the enemy, in which case he was too weak to be a ruler. Lastly, he could have sided with the enemy, in which case he was unworthy to be a ruler."

"You killed a man for failing to live up to expectations, then?"

"I don't care if you agree with why I did it. But right now, no amount of denial will bring your father back. I just want you to know where I stand when I ask you: what was in that crystal?"

The boy remained silent. Irae was just about to ask again when finally, "A dragon. One who held power on the level of gods, and who would obey the commands of whoever released him. His name was Razean. He was meant to be the first floor's defender when the saints fought again."

Irae closed his eyes, not that it made much difference in what he saw. He thought back - who had shattered the crystal? The dead man had been the last to touch it, having knocked it off the desk as Irae plunged a knife in his chest. The crystal had exploded when the Count's blood had fallen on it. Did that mean the Count had been the one to free it, with his blood? Or was it Irae, who wielded the knife, that would count as the one to release the dragon? For all the boy's description, the dragon had seemed a pale white snake. If its strength wasn't from its size, what could it do to be so feared?

"...Thank you for understanding." Irae said, leaving his thoughts for later. "Now I will ask, is there anything I can do for you? I do not wish for your heart to be scarred."

 _Now you play the kind man. Not cut out for understanding other people, are you?_

The boy snorted. "Pf. Just looking out for your own neck." Despite his derisive words, his tone was still quavering.

"Careful, there. I can still kill you where you stand. You were never my target, however. Any harm to you wasn't intentional. I'll do something in an attempt to atone for the hurt I have caused you."

The boy remained silent for a while. "I would ask you…"

Irae knew the boy was struggling not to say 'to kill yourself.'

"...Do not let my father's death be in vain. You should be the one to fix the problems you blamed him for... And know - remember - that he was a good man."

"As you command, Count Palatine," Irae said as he turned to the door. He paused with his hand on the knob. "Also, it's best to cry about it now. Bottling up your emotions won't help... Take it as the advice of someone who was once in a similar situation."

Irae left, closing the door behind him. It would have been safer to climb out the window, as that was how he got in. However, he'd rather find someone to send to the boy before he fell too far into grief. Before he went on, he listened through the door. Sure enough, the boy's weeping had resumed.

Irae had learned of the general layout of the palace as part of his investigation into the Count Palatine. The study and the nobles' bedrooms were on an upper floor. Irae snuck down an ornate staircase to bring him to the servants' quarters.

He knocked on the door of one of the servants' rooms, and asked through the door for them to go to their master's study.

He made sure not to touch anything with his bloodied hands.

Irae turned these recent complications over in his mind. He had several other reasons for killing that boy's father, but now he wasn't sure if it was worth it. He honestly intended to uphold his promise to that boy, though he wasn't sure if it was for fear of how far the boy's hate would go, or from… memories. Now he also had to worry about the state of the city, as well as that dragon that had disappeared into the night.

Irae already had a few ideas of what he could do. He could only do it this night, so the dragon would have to wait.

If his expected outcome in killing the Count Palatine had been to open a power vacuum that would hinder Valse's plans, he had to get eyes on the inside. He needed a network that could tell him of the movements of the nobles, and get him allies against Valse and whichever «Saint» he had sent to take over the people of Aincrad.

Irae slipped through the streets, stopping to clean his hands in a fountain. His gloves were some of the very few objects he missed from his old world.

He continued through the streets, eventually coming to a mansion. It wasn't nearly as ornate as the Count Palatine's palace, or even the Concert Hall, but it was still clearly the property of a wealthy noble.

In particular, it was a noble Irae had spoken with today.

It took him only a matter of seconds to bypass the garden walls and rush past the few guards there. He climbed up the outer wall, coming to a window on the second floor. He slid it open and ducked inside.

This wasn't a house that Irae was familiar with. Luckily, the mansion wasn't as large as the Count's, and he could check every door that lined the hallway. Finally, he came to the room he was looking for, one filled mostly with a large canopy bed. Irae closed the door behind him and listened for the breathing of the other occupant of the room.

She was awake.

"You can put the knife down," Irae said lazily.

A hand reached out from behind the canopy to reveal a violinist Irae had met in his investigation into the Musicians' Guild, Alexis. She had a small dagger in her hand, which she continued to point at Irae.

She spoke in a monotone, "We've only met today. Don't you think our relationship is advancing a little too quickly?"

"Yes, I thought pointing knives at each other was something only married couples did," Irae responded equally dryly.

She lowered the dagger. "Why are you here?"

"I see some possibilities for a future alliance between us."

Alexis frowned. "You want me to do something for the players?"

"Not all of them. Just a few people that you'd be able to use in your future...projects."

"It seems you've seen right through me."

"Great minds think alike."

"I'll be out in a few minutes. Wait outside."

Irae returned to the hallway. Meeting Alexis had been a lucky break for him. She was a noble, involved with the Musicians' Guild, and was a prominent mage of the Magicians' guild as well. Best of all, she was of a character that Irae was familiar with - focused, intelligent, and bored with the world.

The door opened, and Alexis emerged, wearing clothing Irae doubted was made for nobles. It clung closer to her body, intended for freedom of movement rather than pompous decoration.

Alexis lead Irae through the halls of her mansion. There were beautiful paintings decorating the walls and a few decorative armour sets guarding the halls. Alexis took a scepter from the left hand of one of these sets, running her fingers over the ball at the end. It gave off a slight glow.

She stopped at the next window in the hallway. She slid it open, and jumped out.

Irae suppressed his reaction and simply stuck his head out the window. Alexis had landed some three meters from the building, and seemed totally unharmed. She beckoned Irae to follow.

With a tired sigh, Irae followed. He wished he was filled in on these stunts before they would happen.

As he fell, a great gust of wind whipped around him, and blew him up. He lost all of his downward momentum. The wind caught him unevenly, though, and spun him around onto his back. While the landing was fairly slow, it still hurt.

"I'd appreciate it if you would land me on my feet next time," Irae grumbled.

"Consider it payback for sneaking into a lady's room in the middle of the night."

No one was around to witness the spectacle of two people floating out of a window. Alexis used a similar stunt to blow them over the garden wall.

Once they had left earshot of the walls, Irae asked, "So I suppose that was magic?"

"Must be tough for you players, not having any experience with magic."

"We got by just fine."

"Yeah, judging from your trapped state here and now, it _sure_ worked out for you. I'm not complaining; it makes things more interesting for us."

Irae sighed again. He might have known how to deal with people like Alexis, but that didn't mean he liked it.

"While we walk, I'll tell you what I wanted to tell you," Irae asked. He expected another jab, but Alexis just nodded.

"The Count Palatine of Garad has been assassinated," he said.

Alexis stopped. She turned to Irae, a look of confusion briefly crossing her face. Then she hugged him with such ferocity that a window appeared notifying Irae that he was invulnerable within the city.

Irae was caught completely off guard. "What are you doing? I somehow thought his would warrant a more… ah... morose response."

"You don't know how long I've been waiting for an opportunity like this. Chaos! An assassin appears from a crowd of ten thousand, and assassinates the most powerful man in Garad on his first night here!" Her joy would lift the spirits of anyone who saw her, unless they knew the off-putting reason why she was so joyful.

Irae began to question if going to her was the best choice. He freed himself from Alexis's crushing grip, and continued, "Of course, there's the issue of the Count's pet dragon. You wouldn't happen to know anything about it?"

"I suppose that's a good thing if you were looking for chaos," Alexis smirked. "He was intended to be the natives' way of holding their own against players. I'm not the expert, you should talk to some of the people that specialize in this back at the Guild. He's supposed to have some ability to adjust the precise strengths of players."

"Like safe zone protection?"

"What's that?"

"You can't kill a player in a city. The purple window that defended me from your hug blocks attacks. The windows also have a countdown timer - the protection expires next midnight."

"Seems rather unfair. If a native's already died to you players, why should you guys get invulnerability?"

Kayaba had said that Aincrad was intended to be its own world, and this change fit with that. At the same time, it could have been Valse or Razean that caused this change. Any one of these groups could be trying to further their cause, but Irae couldn't be sure which.

"It means someone's planning something, and I don't know who."

"It means someone's paranoid, and he's standing right in front of me," Alexis responded.

Irae sighed. Silence claimed their surroundings for a few moments.

"So what other differences are there between players and natives that Razean might take advantage of?"

"Well, we have familiarity with the world. Politics, fighting, science, magic. If you people haven't seen magic before, there's no way any of you could use it without a few years' practice."

Irae grinned. "I'd say I might be an exception."

"We'll see how your self-proclaimed uniqueness shows itself later."

"Anything else?"

"Well, that depends on what exactly players are. The conventional model as I've heard it is that you're people from offshoot worlds, basically extra floors to Aincrad that are loosely connected to the others. Transference between these peripheral floors and Aincrad as a whole is a lot more complicated and takes a complicated mechanism. Player uniqueness then comes from whatever mechanism you use to get here."

Irae immediately had a lot of questions. "I understand that means the menus and game-related abilities we can use are unique to us, but... you said we came from worlds spawned from this one. Are you saying our world was made by yours, rather than the other way around?"

"Does it matter? For all I know, both our worlds were created by a third. To us, they're real. You players are going to have to come to terms with that - neither side of this is more real than the other."

 _Because what is reality, really?_ Irae thought.

"So this means Razean can control our menus? Does that include communications?"

"I don't know how your system works. You're going to have to let me study that later. He could remove the system entirely, for all I know."

"In that case, what do you think - is it better to have natives or players working for you?"

Alexis thought a while. "I don't know enough about your system. But judging from what I've heard of your communications abilities, I'd say having several players acting as logistical support would by far better than natives. We'd have the upper hand in politics, economics, knowledge, and magic, though."

"Sounds good. We're almost to our destination. You might be able to get the logistics team you want."

They were arriving in the merchant's quarter. Irae led them to a warehouse that was being guarded by two players. He'd scouted out this location earlier while he was checking to make sure two certain players were safe.

Irae glanced back at Alexis. She looked enough like a player that he hoped the sentries wouldn't call her out. He wasn't entirely sure why there even were sentries, as the system would still protect everyone from harm for another day.

Irae and Alexis went to the sentries. Everyone was very relaxed, but one of the sentries still asked, "I know we said this place would be open all night, but I'm still confused as to why you two are coming so late."

"We're trying to see if there's anything more long-term we could do for everyone here," Irae responded with a smile.

They seemed pleased that someone was thinking more than a few hours ahead, and they let the two of them pass.

"What was that about helping people?" Alexis asked.

"I mean establish a mutually beneficial relationship," Irae responded. "Take a look at the people you see here."

Surrounding them in the warehouse were many players, with quite a few children, sleeping in beds of grass along the perimeter of the warehouse.

"There are perhaps a hundred players here, likely more. Many of them will try to be independent in the coming weeks, but many won't. That's over fifty people with great fighting potential, and access to the systems the natives don't. You just have to provide them with a safe place to stay."

"A personal army," Alexis whispered. "I like it."

"You're going to have to act quickly. Is there anywhere you can keep these people?"

Alexis thought for a moment. "I could take a handful of children back to my mansion as personal aides and apprentices. Otherwise, I could probably get the Magicians' Guild to take in as many as fifty people."

"Is there any other group in the city that can take them in? The ones that want to regain their independence, I mean," Irae asked. Alex gave him an odd look, so he explained himself, "Showing goodwill to them might buy you some more loyalty."

"Maybe some of the temples. I'm less sure about that. Those that don't need help after a week or two should go there, but I'm not sure if any of them will give any long-term shelter."

"How long will it take to organize all this?"

"I'd be ready to take a select few to my house immediately. Things can be worked out with the Magicians' Guild by about midday tomorrow. Talking things through with the temples can be more troublesome, though. Word will be propagating about the return of the saints and the assassination of the Count Palatine, so it could take one day or several. You'd need a coordinated group to reach all of them quickly."

"Those that organized this," Irae gestured at the people in the warehouse, "could help with the temples. Otherwise, I'd say we should ask everyone here to gather again around noon tomorrow to organize everyone. The inn rooms elsewhere in the city likely won't change hands for a while, so most will likely come back."

"Sounds like a plan," Alexis nodded.

"Time to find the leaders around here, I suppose."

It took them a few minutes, but they eventually found an organizer that was still awake. He was a large man with the air of a manager. He was sitting on a rotting crate, staring at the ceiling of the old storage house as he hummed a sad tune.

"Hello," Irae said as he came close. His tone transformed from his conversation with Alexis, turning into a warm voice with just a hint of worry intended to draw people in. "I don't suppose you're a leader around here?"

The man looked down slowly. He bore the signs of intense fatigue, and Irae guessed he was only awake for having trouble getting to sleep. Even so, Irae felt that there was something strong about this person.

"I'm Granden," the man introduced himself. "I guess you could call me a leader, though we're not really that organized."

"Granden, then. You can call me Irae. I've come because I've discovered some options for helping the people here get a more permanent residence in the city."

Granden looked up with a flicker of hope in his eye. "It's nice to know we're not the only ones looking out for others."

Irae nodded. "We can organize to take a few dozen people to a guild in the city, where they will be clothed and sheltered, so long as they help the NPCs there." Irae thought it best not to push that fact that NPCs were sentient on a tired man. "For the rest, we thought it could be possible to talk with the temples in the city to get some shelter for perhaps a week or two."

"Sounds good. I can tell everyone to meet back here tomorrow," Granden responded.

"We'll also need the help of a group of people to contact all the temples. It's too big a job for the two of us."

Granden nodded. "I'll make sure the Argus employees don't leave in the morning so we can get this all worked out." He didn't appear awake enough to process exactly what he had just said.

Argus employees. That would explain how a fairly large group all met and organized themselves so early in the game. Irae wasn't certain they played any part in Kayaba's plan to trap everyone here, but that wouldn't stop people's resentment if they found out.

"We'll be sure to be here around an hour past sunrise. Does that work for you?"

Granden nodded again. "I'll go tell the others. And…"

He got up and clasped Irae's hand. "Thank you."

He left Irae and Alexis alone.

"Seems to be struggling to hold himself together," Alexis commented.

"Argus was the company that's responsible for locking everyone in here," Irae explained. "Of course the employees feel terrible, even if they weren't aware what they were doing."

Alexis nodded. "I'll be off now, I might be able to leave a note with the Magicians' Guild and catch some sleep before we have to be back here."

"I'll stay here. I'm not picky about where I spend the night."

Alexis frowned slightly. "I'll see you later, then."

She left.

Irae spent the next few minutes wandering about the warehouse, memorizing the faces of all the children there. Finally, he got to two faces he knew well. Rather, it was one face - the two girls looked identical. They looked much healthier and wore armours and swords, but Irae knew the truth behind those two. Even now, they weren't really asleep; Irae knew them well enough to know when they were lying.

He took off his coat; he'd gotten it to replace his player starting gear and blend in with the crowds properly before the players came online. Underneath was only a thin shirt, but that didn't matter to him. Irae threw the coat over the two still forms.

"Get some sleep, you two," he whispered. "Tomorrow's another big day."

* * *

 **A/N** : This chapter did not go well for me. I tried to do a complete rewrite, but it just wasn't working, so this is an edited version of something I wrote a few months ago. While it's better than my terrible attempts at a rewrite, I'm still not happy with it. It jumps between exposition and characterization awkwardly, and Irae's character is a bit of a mess here. There was supposed to be another Irae section earlier, but I got rid of it. Now I'm regretting missing that section, as it would have given me a chance to explain some of Irae's decisions more exactly and what he learns and does on the first day. At least this chapter isn't incredibly bad either.


	10. Chapter 9

If a player opened their menu in this place, the location displayed would be «Ilia's Eye», and it was black as any person's pupils.

The first person to arrive blended right in with the featureless blackness. Appearing from nothing, and appearing as nothing, he simply settled into a slouched stand in impatience.

The second person appeared suddenly, just as the first. Where there had been empty, black space, a silhouette of dark blue appeared. Her features were indiscernible, all texture of her body gone, leaving only a mirage of midnight blue. She cast her gaze around the dark space, checked her player menu, and settled into an impatient wait just as the first person.

The first person's voice shot through the blackness, oddly muted by the empty air.

"Odd seeing you here."

The second person, the midnight one, jerked in surprise.

"Where are you?"

"I'm right here," the black person spoke from right beside her.

"What are we doing here? What is this place?"

"I suppose we'll find out when other people show up."

"How long will that take?"

The black person shrugged, then realizing the midnight person couldn't see him, he said, "I don't know."

Several minutes passed in silence. The second figure was the only thing that had any colour or form, a slightly blue shadow on a dead backdrop.

Eventually, the third person appeared - this one a bright lime green image that shocked the eyes. He bowed deeply to the first two people like a magician after a performance.

"Hello, my friend. I suppose you would be the «Saint of Two»?" The green figure's tone was childish, but his voice was weathered and aged.

The second figure nodded, surprised. "Does that make you the «Saint of Three»?"

"The Saint of Chaos, yes. May our future dealings take the world by force, and twist its nature about."

The first person whispered in the seconds' ear, "He doesn't see me; do not tell him I'm here."

The midnight girl nodded.

"Excellent!" the green man exclaimed.

With that, two relationships were formed - one of secrets, and one of chaos.

The fourth figure arrived shortly after, a calm air about him. His appearance was of a bloodied shadow, crimson slowly fading into the dark background. It was impossible to judge his age just from his outline. He didn't speak until the green man spoke to him.

"And you would be the master of pain?"

"You could say that." The «Saint of Four» spoke in a melodic voice, on that could convince someone to end their own life.

"Now," the green man changed the set of his shoulders slightly, becoming more formal. "I suppose you are all wondering why I brought you here."

"So _you_ were the one who brought us?" The midnight girl asked.

"Well… it was a team effort. I just really wanted to say that."

"So who helped?"

The dark blue girl was the only one asking questions. The red figure was watching the exchange, amused.

"We're waiting for them right now. Of course, you only have to interact with me and Valse."

For the other figures, this statement was more a confirmation of their suspicions than a revelation.

"Now, I just want everyone to be clear on what our goal is - and why you should follow us," the green man spoke.

"Aren't there going to be more people coming?" the red shadow asked his first question.

"The others are already aware of the details. First, I should begin with _why_ you should follow us." The green man paused for dramatic effect.

"You have the power as «Saints» to decide to release the players from Aincrad. However, this is only true if all seven of us agree to that, and unfortunately, that will take some work. Even if all opposition to the idea is swayed or otherwise removed, we «Saints» will have to stay behind."

"Why would we work with someone who made a system like that?"

"I wasn't the one who designed this system, and indeed, I dislike it as well. It's more of a mess of incompatible systems vainly cobbled together."

That was when the fifth figure arrived. This one was a deep purple, a little shorter than the green man, and carried a strange sense of a nervous man. He quickly looked about the blackness, taking a moment to spot the midnight girl.

"I suppose you would be the enigmatic Valse?" the red shadow asked.

The purple spirit nodded and got straight to the point. "I suppose you have already heard the essentials. We're here to take control of Aincrad and turn it into a fortress. Dissent among us will be stamped out quickly, and you have no hope of escape other than by leading the players through all one hundred floors. Working as part of our group will also have certain perks, including access to networks and support from the others. Do you understand?"

He spoke almost as if he didn't think dissent was ever a possibility. The irritation the players felt at that was disguised by their textureless forms.

"You said you would turn Aincrad into a fortress. Why?"

"I suppose you must have discovered by now that this world is no different from your own. The only game-like mechanics that remain are solely accessible by you. Now think, if you were able to come here, then couldn't someone else? Additionally, if extra abilities can be granted based on method of transport, then how can we ensure the safety of Aincrad?"

"You sound paranoid," the red shadow spoke plainly. "And you talk about the safety of Aincrad, but you only care about your own safety."

The purple spirit didn't respond to that. After a pause, the red shadow continued, "...but your plot sounds interesting. For that reason, I will join your little undertaking, so long as there is blood to be spilled."

"Excellent!" the green man exclaimed. "You will be in charge of infiltrating the nobles and other ranking members of the natives of the city. There is currently somewhat of a power gap that you could exploit."

The midnight girl could hear the black person swear silently, but no one else detected the sound.

"I would rather have my fun with the players," the red shadow counterproposed.

The black person hurriedly whispered in the girl's ear, "Don't let him do that."

The midnight girl didn't know why, but she felt that was a good decision. Something about the red shadow seemed ominous, better kept away from the players she concerned herself with.

"I think my network would be more useful for taking the players," she spoke clearly.

The red shadow glared at her, but the green man didn't seem to notice. "I would agree with that. Don't worry, Four, you will have plenty opportunity to have some fun when it comes time to end all resistance."

During this exchange, the sixth figure appeared without anyone noticing. There were a few differences about her. Firstly, she was a tiny figure, shorter even than the midnight girl, and had the frame of a seven-year-old. Secondly, she appeared sitting cross-legged, with her hands outstretched in front of her as if she'd been interrupted by her transference. Thirdly, her appearance wasn't one solid colour. White streaks slowly drifted across her light blue shadow, creating the impression that she was really a window into an open sky. She remained silent as discussion continued.

Once the roles had been decided, the purple spirit spoke again. The players began to suspect that he was silently competing with the green man. "Our newcomer here will be our third arm - while you take control of the first floor, she will keep other floors from interfering. Now that you have all seen each other, I ask that you don't try to seek each other out or discover each other's identities. Focus on your own tasks and building your own networks first, then we may consider closer cooperation. Communication between yourselves will be done here at future meetings, or through one of us," he gestured to himself and the green man.

The black person felt that the purple spirit was too trusting. He could see the red and midnight figures searching each other out and clashing immediately. Then again, perhaps it was the duty of the green and purple figures to keep that from happening.

"You speak with finality, but I only count five of us. Even if the first saint is conspicuously missing, I wonder why you leave the seventh out of this."

"The «Saint of One» is not chosen yet, and will not be for a long time," the purple spirit explained with the air of a scholar.

The midnight girl was surprised by this claim, but the black person wasn't. He'd been expecting some kind of confusion regarding his existence, though he wasn't sure the source of this information was reliable. Now he knew that the purple spirit was not only fallible, but also rather misguided.

The purple spirit continued, "The «Saint of Seven» is Kayaba Akihiko, the man who manufactured your way into Aincrad. He will not be joining us tonight."

"Why would you choose him as a «Saint»?" the midnight girl asked.

"A demonstration and a challenge," the purple spirit replied.

"What he means," the green man explained, "is that Kayaba Akihiko will serve as a demonstration to the players and natives of Aincrad what it means to fight and kill a «Saint». He'll likely have some time to develop his abilities before we manage to corner him, and then we simply leave him to the player; they're not that happy with him. They gain experience killing a «Saint», and we essentially hold a contest to see which swordsman is powerful enough to beat him."

What he meant was that he would serve as a demonstration of what would happen if anyone present betrayed the group.

Even so, the some of the players realized something was off. If the purple spirit could create the virtual space they were in, yet couldn't corner one player yet, then what were the extent of his abilities?

"Let's discuss this tomorrow," the black person whispered to the midnight girl. "North gate, one hour past sunrise."

The midnight girl didn't respond, not because she wasn't going to go, but because she noticed the blue child staring straight at her. She wasn't sure if the child had seen anything, and the child thankfully remained silent.

Meanwhile, the green man was beginning to explain the workings of the city to the red shadow. "The city is the center of a small territory, referred to as the Pfalzgarad. It is the center of the kingdoms of the area, but it technically has no authority over the surrounding territories. Some business about it being the floor capital in the days of an old empire which later collapsed. In other words, it's a gathering of nobles from a bunch of surrounding territories that you can play off each other…"

The red shadow listened at first, but slowly began to ignore the deluge of information. His interest only returned when he heard the term 'Assassin's Guild.' However, he couldn't hear much about it before something happened.

A seventh person joined the group suddenly and in a flash of white. The newcomer happened to appear directly where the black person had been standing, knocking him away in a flash of light. The midnight girl caught a glimpse of the outline of the black person's arm, but only because she was looking for it. Unbeknownst to her, another «Saint», the blue child, also caught this detail.

The white light quickly coalesced into the form that clearly wasn't Kayaba. Instead, it was the irradiant white outline of a diminutive child of indeterminable sex. The child simply regarded the group coldly and with fists clenched.

A second later, every «Saint» was knocked away a dozen meters. The blackness seemed to thicken, fogging over the vision of each person until they could see nothing but black.

Slowly, the fog melted away, and the «Saints» returned to their bodies scattered about the world.

* * *

A/N: Apologies for the late upload, I happened to get distracted while writing this yesterday, and postponed it to today.

I'm much happier with this chapter than the last, because it manages to do a lot of exposition both directly and indirectly, while keeping things simple. Moreover, there's quite a lot of minor characterization, and most importantly, mystery. I must say, creating a whole mythos in advance is really good for this stuff, because I'm able to come up with mechanisms for every trick that goes unexplained for now. Many of them will have to be explained later.

Another focus of mine here was on style. This chapter is omniscient, with thoughts from the first, second, and fourth saints mentioned, and no names used other than in dialogue. Tell me if the stylistic changes worked, or if you got tired seeing every paragraph start with the word "the."


	11. Chapter 10

Asuna's eyes cracked open slowly, inputting a confusing mess of information to her brain. It was early in the morning, earlier than she usually woke. The light, still soft, illuminated the room at a different angle than it should have. As her mind began processing the images more carefully, she realized that it was because this wasn't her room. The bed was hard, the blankets rough, and the ceiling just a collection of worn planks.

It was a few moments before she realized where she was. Asuna wasn't home, and she wouldn't be going back there for a long time. She was stuck in run-down places like this, at least for now. She just considered herself lucky that she had people she could rely on here. She looked around the room. Lisbeth was still asleep on the other bed, but Tori was nowhere to be found.

Asuna panicked briefly. Were they abandoned? It only took her sleep-addled mind a few seconds to calm herself down, though. Lisbeth and Tori were sisters. Tori wouldn't abandon Lisbeth the same way Kouichirou wouldn't abandon her.

Her mind latched onto that train of thought. Where was her brother? He'd been a developer of the game, and he'd been the one to recommend Asuna try this. Did he know what would happen? No. He wouldn't send her into a death game if he knew they would be trapped and in danger. Was he in the game himself, then? It was very possible he was looking for her right now. Should she ask Tori to help her look for him?

Asuna's thoughts changed direction again when the door opened and a girl walked in. She was a few years older than Asuna. Her short and messy black hair framed a face that was all sharp features. Her body was similar - a slim frame that seemed almost sharp with lean muscle where it counted; the body of a sportsman. To Asuna, she looked smart, strong, and a perhaps little intimidating. She was holding several brown lumps Asuna couldn't identify.

It took her a second to realize this was Tori.

"Good morning," Tori said in a tone that was somehow cheerful and sulky at the same time.

Asuna mumbled something in response. Apparently her vocal skills weren't working this early in the morning. Something hard hit her in the stomach - it was one of the brown lumps Tori was carrying. On closer inspection, it was a small loaf of bread about as hard as the pan Asuna supposed it was baked in.

"It's nice having someone that can actually wake up in our party," Tori said, moving over to Lisbeth's bed.

 _I don't feel very awake, though,_ Asuna thought. However, she soon realized the state of her competition - Lisbeth was sound asleep and drooling all over the bed. Asuna heard a soft impact as a bun was thrown at the lump in the blanket that marked Lisbeth's position.

"Get up, you little idiot. We have to get going." Tori was preparing to shove Lisbeth out of the bed when her efforts were met with a dull groan.

Asuna watched this display with mild amusement. Was that what it was like to have a sister - protective when it counted, harsh otherwise? Kouichirou wasn't like that. Then again, he was a lot older than her, and was usually away at work.

 _Right, Kouichirou! I should ask Tori about that…_

"By the way, Tori," Asuna mumbled, "I have a brother…"

"Yeah, you mentioned him when we first met." Tori sat at the edge of Lisbeth's bed, keeping an eye on her to make sure she didn't go back to sleep.

"Well, he worked at Argus, and I think he's here as well."

"So do you want to go look for him?" Tori asked. "'Cuz we can help you out with that so long as it doesn't take too long or put us in too much trouble."

"Really?"

"Well… Why don't you tell me about him? He worked at Argus, so is it possible that he let you in the game knowing what would happen?"

"Kouichirou would never do that," Asuna instantly protested. "He's really nice, and always helping me out, and asking mom to not be so hard on me-"

Tori nodded, seeming somewhat satisfied. Asuna realized she was asking that out of concern for Asuna; Tori was already treating her as a friend.

"To tell the truth, this isn't the best time, though."

"What?"

"We got really lucky finding this inn yesterday; they're in high demand. You need money to live here, and our starting money won't last us long. The mobs we can fight are limited, so they'll also be in high demand. We need to track some down and fast to make sure we can get by. Looking for your brother would be useless if we found him and no one had any money to live."

Despite this explanation, Asuna still wanted to look for him, though now that mixed with a feeling of guilt at wanting to hold everyone back for her own goals.

Tori continued, "So how about we keep our eyes and ears peeled in the meantime, and look for him after?"

That was probably the best choice. Asuna nodded. She also realized that she wanted to stay with Lisbeth and Tori a little longer. They weren't the same as Kouichirou, but they were nice and they accepted Asuna. Issue settled, she turned her attention to the chunk of bread on her lap.

"Jeez, does anyone have a saw?" Lisbeth called out from her bed. She'd just started eating her bun as well.

"Yes, hidden right up my left sleeve, under my armpit," Tori responded dryly. "Do you need it for something?" She dug her teeth into the bread and tore a chunk of, making it look a lot easier than it was.

Lisbeth sighed exasperatedly and began teething away at her bun as well.

Asuna began working away at her bun as well - it was probably the hardest bun she'd ever had, but surprisingly, the taste wasn't that bad. She realized as she was eating it that Tori must have had a lot of strength to tear it apart so easily, though.

"So," Tori said to Asuna. "If you do find your brother, what will you do?"

Asuna stopped chewing for a moment as she thought. "I don't know, really. I liked spending the day with you, but I really just want to see Kouichirou…"

Tori nodded knowingly. "We'll see how it is later. Now, get up, we have to get going soon."

Asuna and Lisbeth hurriedly finished their buns and collected their equipment from the ground. Asuna took this opportunity to look at Lisbeth's new appearance, or rather, to see if there were any differences between yesterday and today. Aside from her hair colour, which was now brown, Lisbeth was identical. Hadn't Tori been complaining that she was taking a while to design her character? Had Lisbeth spent several minutes just choosing that shade of pink? Well, when Asuna thought about it, there had been a lot of options she played with as well, though she hardly changed any part of her appearance either.

Tori grabbed her two companions by the arms and half-dragged them out of the inn and down the stairs. Lisbeth seemed totally accustomed to this awkward mode of transport, rubbing her temple with a pained expression.

"I don't know if you get this, but my temples always ache whenever I chew something really hard, like that bread. It's like a cramp or something."

"It's because you're a mutant," Tori said, still holding the others' arms in an iron grip. "Mom and Dad just adopted you after they picked you up from a dumpster next to the nuclear laboratory one day."

"How would you know? You would have been three." Lisbeth moved to walk next to Tori, though she didn't try to pull her wrist from Tori's hand.

"Ah, that's because I was one of the successful experiments; I was breezing through calculus classes at the lab at that point."

"Come on, you're not that good at math even now."

"How do you know that? The wise eagle hides her talons," Tori said with a playful expression.

The sisters' banter continued as they made their way through the streets. Asuna, having known more formal friends her whole life, found it fun just to listen to their jokes and jabs as she looked around today's city. Few people were out; the sun had risen just a few minutes ago. The few who were awake moved slowly and tiredly, some looked as dead in the morning as if someone had died.

The trio reached the gate, and the sisters' banter died out suddenly. Asuna looked around and realized why.

The marvelous vista they'd stared at yesterday was now overrun. An almost two-dimensional tide rumbled across the plain, an amorphous blob that expanded and contracted like one big organism. Squinting a little, Asuna made out hundreds of distant shapes that spread out or tumbled over each other as the blob expanded or contracted. Some of these shapes were white or steely grey, but most were a dark bluish black. They were the boars they had fought yesterday, now just united into one big stampede.

"Well, crap," Lisbeth said.

Tori nodded. "Looks like we're not getting out today."

"Tell me about it," a new voice, rough and nasally, came from the wall next to the gate.

It was the girl Asuna had seen here yesterday talking with someone in the shadows. She was short, but Asuna couldn't make out more of her features in the shadows. She leaned on the wall like she designed, built, and owned it, but was positioned as if she didn't want anyone to ever look her way. It was the girl Asuna had seen here yesterday. Her fingers were tapping through the air in front of her as she typed a message.

"Wait, I think I've heard of you. Are you «The Rat»?" Tori asked.

"Oh, someone knows enough about the beta to know me," she said apathetically.

"You seem rather calm," Lisbeth probed.

"Panic gets you nowhere." She finished typing her message and looked over to them. "Oh, I saw you before," she said, gesturing to Asuna. "You were pretty calm during that whole opening ceremony debacle, what do you think would have happened if you panicked?"

"Oh, you were the one who was looking through the whole crowd." It was poorly communicated, but «The Rat» looked like she understood.

"Now, there are a few things I want to do that I can't do alone. For example, do you see those guys over there on the plain running from the stampede?" «The Rat» asked.

Sure enough, Asuna spotted a few people far away running for their lives to get away.

"The boars gathered suddenly and those were the guys caught with their pants down. Could you help me get them out, and gather some intel while we're at it? Of course, I can pay you."

Tori looked at her. "You want us to run into that?"

"Starting money can get you food and a cheap room for three nights, but there aren't really a lot of cheap rooms available. I'd guess one more night, maybe two if you were lucky. So, do you want to bet that everyone else deals with the problem by the end of the day tomorrow, or do you want to help that effort and get some money doing it?"

Tori paused to consider it. Asuna wondered what she was thinking - there were people out there that needed help. Hadn't she helped Asuna?

"You're sure about this?" Tori asked in a serious tone. She seemed to be implying something.

«The Rat» gave her a strange look then nodded. "Observant of you."

"And I'm sure you'll pay enough to last us an extra day, and that you have a plan worked out."

«The Rat» nodded and took off at a brisk walk with an, "I'll explain as we go." Tori, Asuna, and Lisbeth followed.

"We're going to be pulling aggro between groups to see how they act and hopefully exploit it. Here," she handed Tori what looked like several kitchen knives. "Don't expect me to tell you where I got these without paying for that info. These knives have a low aggro effect, so as long as you only throw one or two at a time, someone else can pull aggro away from you easily. We'll go in two groups - Orange here will go with me." She pointed at Asuna. "If they stick in one pack, we just pull them in a zigzag until the others have a chance to get away. We zigzag toward the city, but not too fast for the escapees. If the boars split up, we run for our lives back toward the city, others be damned. Got it?"

Asuna didn't understand any of it, but «The Rat» didn't seem like she was going to repeat herself. Asuna looked over to the sisters. Lisbeth seemed about as confused at her, and Tori had a frustrated look on her face, probably because of «The Rat's» seemingly reckless attitude.

Tori said to «The Rat», "I think you should explain what aggro is to these idiots."

"Newbies, huh?" «The Rat» looked to Asuna and Lisbeth tiredly. "I suppose I'll tell you for free, given the circumstances. Basically, mobs rank players in a table depending on how much they dislike each one, and attack the player with the highest ranking in their table. Throw something at the stampede, and it's more likely to chase you. Then we just have someone on the other side throw a knife to get them to turn around. This is assuming the boars all share the same hate table - if they didn't, they _probably_ would have spread out by now. If they do that, then we all run away as fast as we can."

That made a bit more sense to Asuna, though it was a system that felt a lot more fake then the world as she'd seen it so far. Maybe it was just because it took someone familiar with games to really spot the game-like elements in the world, and to exploit them.

They passed some of the players retreating from the boars. These were the lucky ones - they were still a few hundred meters from where the surging tide of boars was chasing down the slower players. A few of them looked to «The Rat» with recognition or confusion in their eyes, but «The Rat» ignored most of them. When they passed one person that looked a little more alive than the others, «The Rat» quickly asked him, "Invie, did it look like the stampede would split up?"

"I was pretty far away from the thing, but it looked to me like it stayed together. It got pretty spread out, though."

«The Rat» nodded and continued on.

The thundering of hundreds of sets of hooves on the ground began to rattle Asuna's heart in her chest. «The Rat» looked to Tori, and took Asuna off to the left of the oncoming tide of boars, leaving the right to the sisters. She quickly looked Asuna over, handing her a few knives.

"I'll handle things at first. If it looks like I'm about the get trampled, throw one of those into the stampede and run in the opposite direction."

Asuna nodded, and then was dragged forward by «The Rat».

The stampede was a storm, a hurricane even, of thundering hooves, turbulent impacts, and flailing bodies. It was currently flowing from Asuna's left to her right about a dozen meters away. If even one boar broke off from the pack and drifted toward them, they could be trampled in seconds.

«The Rat» nonchalantly took a knife, twisted her shoulders around, and threw it straight into the flank of a boar. Asuna's throat constricted, but the boars didn't change their course. «The Rat» frowned for a moment. She stepped forward, carefully took another knife, and threw it two or three boars into the stampede.

Suddenly, sound ceased, or at least decreased. The flood of boars had turned into a trickle and vanished before Asuna realized what had happened.

"It didn't work," Asuna said.

"No. Watch carefully." «The Rat» was staring at the boars intently. Their course now followed a curved path that arched around them before aiming themselves right at «The Rat» and Asuna.

Asuna's heart rate matched the rhythm of the boars' hooves on the ground. «The Rat» grabbed her arm and sprinted to the side. Asuna couldn't remember ever running this fast, every iota of her energy devoted to just pushing off from the ground to get as far away from that tide of death as she could.

If the wave of wind was anything to judge by, the stampede was an arm's length away when it rushed by.

 _I'm not ready for this kind of… just this in general,_ Asuna raged inside. What was she doing here. She hadn't agreed to this crazy plan. They were all going to die-

"Well, that wasn't too bad," «The Rat» commented with a slight quaver to her voice. "Hopefully we only have to do that two or three more times."

"Two or three?" Asuna felt about ready to collapse already.

"Hey, that right there already told me a lot, which could mean a way to take them down. Now, it looks like Tori's also having some trouble pulling aggro- no, she's got it. She's pretty good. Now, we're going to have to quickly run over a little to pull aggro for ourselves in a second." «The Rat» quickly lead Asuna forward a little. Asuna was glad to notice that this was a little closer to the city.

In the seconds it took the stampede circled around Tori's group, «The Rat» quickly said to Asuna, "Now, I need to test a few other things. Do you think you can land a hit on one of the inner boars?"

"Me?"

"Yes." «The Rat» seemed a little exasperated. "We need to find a way to break off individual boars, and I have an idea. So, can you land it?"

"I don't know, I've never really done this before."

«The Rat» glanced at the progress of the stampede; they only had a few seconds.

"Get in position - throwing shoulder behind."

Asuna assumed a throwing position. She hadn't been particularly _bad_ in PE, but she wasn't the best either.

"Look where you want to hit, and throw with your shoulders. You'll do fine. It shouldn't matter if the knife hits blade or handle first, so long as it hits."

«The Rat's» words were already being drowned out by the approaching horde.

Just as last time, the mass of flesh shot by just a few meters away. Asuna tried to ignore the proximity of it, and just trained her eyes on a point just inside the stampede and launched her knife forward. Half a second later, «The Rat» did the same, hitting a smaller boar on the outside.

Again, the sound, the proximity, and the sight of the stampede disappeared suddenly. «The Rat» was staring intently at the at the boars as they circled around just like last time. Asuna caught a slight smile, though she wasn't sure why.

"Okay, get ready," «The Rat» said. "As soon as we get away, pull out your sword."

Asuna tensed and began to sprint, running faster than was probably possible outside a game, praying that she wouldn't be trampled. She must have been running a little faster than last time, because she had the impression that they had a _slightly_ larger margin of safety as the stampede passed them by.

She relaxed, but «The Rat» hissed, "It's not over yet!" Asuna quickly pulled out her sword.

While the main surge of boars was rushing by behind them, each acting as a part of an indivisible whole, there was one that had separated from the rest. A small boar, the same one «The Rat» had hit on the last run-by, was charging straight for them.

Asuna's legs felt too weak to dodge this one like she'd done yesterday, but she didn't have to worry. «The Rat» moved sideways, and the boar turned to follow her. Asuna took this chance to slice through the boar's flank as it ran by, slowing it down enough for «The Rat» to finish it with a small dagger.

"Now we know how to beat them - it will take a while and a lot of people, but a lossless victory should be possible," «The Rat» said triumphantly. She grabbed Asuna's arm and brought her to the next position.

"Don't worry about throwing a knife this time," «The Rat» said.

Asuna nodded.

The boars were arching around Tori's group when «The Rat» whispered, "Oh no."

Asuna caught sight of it as well. A new boar joined the stampede, coming from the forest. This one was massive - as large as a building - with burgundy fur and tusks larger than the smaller boars. It submerged itself in the flow of boars, coming to a point near the middle. Asuna realized there was another burgundy hill amid the boars.

"I hope that boar doesn't act like I think it does," «The Rat» said. "If the stampede splits up, you run back to the city as fast as you can. I'll try to drag the other stampede away from you."

Asuna spared a quick glance toward the city. It wasn't far; they could make it without dragging the boars in another loop, but it would be close.

The boars charged past Lisbeth and Tori, and headed toward Asuna's group. «The Rat» pulled off her aggro trick without a problem, though she immediately sent wild hand signals to Tori's group. Once the sisters had begun to run, «The Rat» pushed Asuna away.

"Run for it. Don't wait for me, I'll be fine."

Asuna paused. In that time, Lisbeth and Tori had run quite close. Tori glared at Asuna, yelling, "What are you doing? Run!"

Asuna listened. «The Rat» ran one direction, while everyone else ran in the opposite direction. No one ran directly to the city though; the boars were between them and the gate.

Asuna looked to the boars, and soon saw what had worried «The Rat». The single rush of boars had broken up into two separate flows, one rushing for «The Rat», the other aiming for Asuna's group.

They managed another hurried dodge sideways. This one was easier thanks to Tori hanging back to let the others grab a head start on getting away. In exchange, she took a hit in the leg from a passing boar's tusk.

"Tori!" Lisbeth called out.

"I can still run. Let's go."

The three girls sprinted with everything they had. Asuna was surprised at how much strength her legs had locked in them. It had taken a near-death experience for her to realize that what she had thought of as her limits weren't limits at all, just the border of what was comfortable. Comfort went out the window when the stakes were high enough.

However, she couldn't keep up this pace forever. Even as she ran, she could feel her legs slowing down. She felt heavier, the ground looked closer than it had been before. She hadn't fallen, though. The sound of the stampede sounded more distant now as well, overpowered by the rustling of knee-high grass against her legs. Was her body giving up?

Wait a moment - how could she hear rustling grass over thundering hooves right behind her? Asuna looked down and realized the grass was being whipped back the way she'd come by a wind on the scale of a typhoon's.

Suddenly, the pressure was gone. Her back straightened, and the ground receded slightly. She realized her hair had been blowing behind her in a frenzied mess, and it now fell to her shoulders again. The city gate was a dozen meters away.

Asuna looked behind her, watching as Tori and Lisbeth emerged through the strange threshold. Behind them, the grass was blown flat, but here is stood tall and undisturbed. The boars were further behind than she would have expected; they had been hit much harder by the wind raking across the plain.

She looked back toward the gate, looking for an explanation of these strange weather patterns. At the gate were two people, a tall redheaded woman and a slightly shorter man. The woman held a scepter, her lips moving quickly in an incomprehensible gibber. The man watched the plain with a hawk's eyes, holding a trumpet.

Asuna ran up to them quickly, collapsing on the ground beside the gate. Lisbeth joined her shortly after, but Tori had slowed on her way there. Her run turned into a cautious walk, her eyes filled with hate as she stared at the man with the trumpet. She moved between him and the rest of her party as if to defend them.

"Interesting seeing you here," the man commented dryly before returning his attention to the plain. Even slowed as they were by accelerated winds, they were about to reach their end. The man raised the trumpet to his lips, and played three sharp notes.

Three huge fires burst to life, one in the middle of the stampede, the other two just inside the boundary created by the wall of wind. The boars squealed in pain, slowing their charge and turning away from the two fires before them.

The man lowered the trumpet, and the fires died away. He looked at the instrument oddly. The red-haired woman beside it snatched it from his hands, looking it over from every angle. "You didn't break it, but only just."

"What can I say, I never played a lot of trumpet."

The woman glared at him, small fires glowing in her eyes. "Useless. Though that girl out there who took on a whole arm by herself deserves praise."

Asuna looked back over the plain. «The Rat» had somehow put a lot of distance between herself and the boars, and was making her way back to the city in good time. How, Asuna couldn't have guessed.

"Now, Trick, you've been glaring at me this whole while. I hope you have the maturity to put things behind you."

"Why are you following me?"

"I didn't intend to come across you. I'm here to meet someone else."

Tori glared at him with distrust in her eyes. She tried to stand up, but fell back to the ground.

"Tori, your leg."

"Don't worry about it," Tori said, a bit of her aggression toward the man leaking into her tone.

"You should get that bandaged," the man said unconcernedly, offering her a cloth strip. Tori regarded it coldly, before suddenly snatching it from his hand like a cat snagging a toy.

While Lisbeth helped Tori bandage her leg, Asuna looked at the man again. She'd seen him before - he had been the one to speak with Tori during the opening ceremony, and point «The Rat's» attention toward Kayaba. He paid Asuna no heed as he watched «The Rat's» progress in returning to the city.

«The Rat» had almost made it back, and the red-haired woman restarted her chant. Asuna could map out the change in wind by looking at the swaying of the grass, how it grew flatter the closer it came to the boars. «The Rat's» violet eyes shot up to regard the man as soon as the first stream of air blew her way.

Watching her progress, Asuna realized that their mad dash across the plain must have lasted only a few seconds, and the change in how fast they ran due to the wind must have been minute, but it had felt so huge at the time. Her mind had been working a hundred times faster, and that was perhaps the only thing that let her detect anything. That made «The Rat's» immediate notice of the change all the more impressive. How observant was she? That scrawny girl had spotted the beleaguered players right away, seen the changes in the stampede's movement, and had seen enough to know the big boar would change the way the stampede acted. Was that just a skill built up by playing games all one's life, or was «The Rat» unique even among them?

This time, the boars fell back without any prompting with fire. «The Rat» arrived beside the gate without even a slump to her shoulders. She stopped before the man. Despite being much shorter than him, she seemed to take up just as much space as him.

"You're late," she said.

"I had to ask for help in dealing with the emergency, and there were other matters to deal with. This is Alexis, by the way."

«The Rat» glanced at her, then back to the man. "You didn't tell me you would involve anyone else."

"What we need now more than anything else is allies. Do you think this stampede that we're watching right now, just happened to come at a critical time?"

"You're reading too far into it."

Alexis broke into the conversation. "Actually, stampedes like this have happened before. Usually, they're cleared up within a few days by the city garrison, but it may take longer now. The leading theory is that they are caused by a spirit creating a deal with a boar god. We're dealing with a spirit, so it's quite likely…"

The man continued. "Right now, players are pressured, yet decentralized. This problem forces them to work together to solve the problem quickly. That means creating a position of power that Valse can exploit."

Asuna had no idea what they were talking about now. «The Rat» looked over at her, and she felt that she shouldn't be listening.

"Don't worry about them overhearing. Trick isn't a bad person."

"You certainly have an odd way of showing that opinion."

"That was ten years ago," the man said, exasperated. He returned his attention to «The Rat», ignoring the evil glares from Tori.

"First, I want to be clear what we're working toward. Our goals may not be the same, but I believe we are not so dissimilar as for our goals to be irreconcilable."

«The Rat» looked at him distrustfully.

The man continued. "My aim is to stop Valse, and prevent a monopoly of power by any of his associates. There are also key people that I wish to see safe in this conflict."

He then looked down to Tori. "I have no reason to fight you, and I do not believe what Haya did ten years ago. Believe me?"

Tori glared at him for a few more seconds, then nodded slowly.

"I suppose those twins were on your list of people to be protected."

The man flinched. "Verian, huh?"

«The Rat» smirked. "Don't try to keep secrets from «The Rat»."

She paused for a moment. "I suppose my goals aren't too different. I wish to protect the players, and get them out of this game with minimal losses. I don't really care if Valse goes down."

The man nodded. "But I suppose that means you wish to work against the red saint?"

«The Rat» nodded.

"Then we have the same initial goal. The retreating players have returned to the city to spread the news, and I have told a few of them to mention a meeting in the nearest square at noon. We can meet there."

«The Rat» left.

The man looked back to Tori. "I suppose you've gleaned a fair amount from that exchange. I won't ask you to make any decision, but know that I don't want us to stay enemies."

He and Alexis left together.

The remaining three girls stayed silent for a moment.

Lisbeth broke the silence. "So, Tori, was that your boyfriend from middle school or something?"

Tori glared at her. "He was a friend of a friend. It didn't end well."

Lisbeth recoiled slightly under Tori's glare. "Must have been harsh."

"So what was that all about?" Asuna asked.

"Those three want to fight someone and are looking for an alliance. If they weren't players, I would almost think that was a scripted story event," Tori said. "I hope you both know that we shouldn't mention what they said to anyone else."

Lisbeth looked a little confused. "Why?"

Tori shrugged. "Gut feeling."

Tori seemed tired, her face lax and uncomposed. Suddenly Asuna realized how much pressure they had been putting on her. She was the one to hold them together in the opening ceremony, she had found them a place to sleep, and she had still been the first person up in the morning. Now, she'd been entrusted with more responsibility, and she was lost. It may have seemed like some long-forgotten history, but Asuna remembered that just yesterday this was supposed to be just a game. Tori hadn't come prepared for this, and had taken charge despite that. Now, the wear was starting to show.

"How about we rest for a few hours, then go see by the meeting to find «The Rat» again?" Asuna asked. Someone had to give out ideas when their leader was tired.

"Wait." Tori shot up suddenly. "That little fucking rat!"

Asuna and Lisbeth were both taken back by this language. "What?"

"She said she'd pay us - and she never even gave a friend request! We're tracking down that idiot and making her pay double!"

Sudden as it was, they had their leader back. Now, though, Asuna knew she couldn't just leave everything to Tori. She would have to do something herself, and not just be someone taken along for the ride.

* * *

 **A/N** : Now this chapter is somewhat longer than average. I suppose this makes up for last week's late and somewhat shorter chapter.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with this one. I get in a lot of characterization for Asuna, Lisbeth, and Tori, and introduce a problem that every player has to deal with, rather than just the saints or just one small group of characters. We can also really start to see the connections between all the point of view characters, though Yuuki and Kouichirou are still somewhat on the periphery.


	12. Chapter 11

Kouichirou really hated himself right now. He was laying in bed, scrolling through the list of players. The name of every player who died was greyed out on the list, but he didn't even look at them, didn't think about them. He hadn't even reached the end of the A's before closing his eyes and calming himself.

Asuna's name was still there, written in black. She was safe, and that was all that mattered. That thought was what got Kouichirou hating himself. He was ignoring several thousand people just so he could look out for one person. Was that right?

Long ago, someone had once told Kouichirou, "The opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference." It was this very statement that bored holes into Kouichirou's mind right now.

Then again, his quest to look for Asuna had done a lot of good along the way. He'd been the one to talk Granden into an endeavor to protect the players, and they'd helped over a hundred players on the first day alone. Even now, there was a commotion as the next venture was being announced.

Kouichirou dragged himself out of the pile of grass and looked out from the crates that had shielded his sleeping form. The warehouse was bright; the morning sun revealed the roof to be a holed weave of disintegrating planks.

A small pile of crates had been created as a platform from which a speaker could give news. Right now Granden stood atop it, gruffly speaking to a small crowd of gathered players.

"…Those of you that can help, stay here; we'll sort out details in a minute. Anyone who can't or won't help, but still needs the support, come back here at one this afternoon. We might not have a place for you to stay right away, but you can get some news or companions."

Kouichirou made his way to the crowd as several players went the other way. He caught Granden's eye, and the older man shook his head slightly in exasperation.

Once the leaving players were gone and the crowd had settled down, Granden resumed speaking.

"For those among you who weren't listening," Granden looked pointedly at Kouichirou, "our next endeavor is to find longer-term housing for everyone. The inns are full and the streets are dangerous, so we're going to the temples. I'll divide you into trios. Hopefully at least one person in your group is not completely useless in social situations."

Several chuckles rose from the crowd. Another Argus employee whom Kouichirou had never seen before stepped forward and laid a map down on a crate.

"Here we go - I point, you give your name, step forward, and get your zone and partners. You!" Granden began selecting people at random. It wasn't long before Kouichirou got the impression that Granden would point to one shady-looking person and group him with others that looked more upstanding.

When Granden pointed to Kouichirou, he wore a slight grin. Kouichirou yelled out his character name and stepped through the crowd to the map. Someone was already waiting there for a partner, examining the map and listening for information from the Argus employee. This man stood over a head above everyone around him, with mocha brown skin and sizeable muscles. He wore a friendly expression, though, and seemed easy to get along with.

The man introduced himself as Agil, giving off an immediate air of affability.

Kouichirou worried that it was he himself that had been deemed the 'shady character' of the group. He hadn't been entirely polite when trying to get Granden to help him yesterday, but he had hoped it wouldn't affect Grande's opinion of him too much.

His fears proved groundless when he saw the third member of their party. A gangling teenager strode forth, a slight hunch to his shoulders, a his face slightly red due to the spots all over his face. He seemed to look down on everyone around him, or perhaps it was just the set of his eyes.

Kouichirou knew it was unfair to judge character by appearance. He tried to shelve the judgement he'd just made.

"Yo, I'm Nekomimi."

Kouichirou's opinion of him dropped again.

"I'm Inkling," Kouichirou introduced himself, "and this here is Agil."

Agil nodded as well, quickly pointing out the region of the city they'd been assigned. "According to Snow over here, there are three notable temples in the area - Saent-Camille, Aiste, and Turankh." He pointed them out. "Understood?"

"Got it," Nekomimi chirped, already marching off.

Agil gave Kouichirou a tired look as they followed. Nekomimi was already halfway to the entrance.

Kouichirou thought it a little awkward, but something about Agil's appearance gave him the courage to ask, "Is it just me, or did Granden choose less… mmh…"

"You caught it, huh?" Agil asked. "Actually, that was my idea. It's not good to judge character by appearance, but you can't stop people from doing that. It's better if every group has someone presentable, just so that every group can get at least some agreements with the temples."

"Did you work in advertising or something?"

Agil laughed, a big hearty laugh that made Kouichirou want to join in. "I was a barman, so technically no."

"Sorry, it was rude to ask."

"I don't mind."

They caught up with Nekomimi outside. He looked confused. "Now which way's West?" he asked.

Agil pointed, and Nekomimi began an exaggerated march. He acted a lot younger than he looked, a childishness that Kouichirou found irritating.

"By the way," Agil called to Nekomimi. "«Nekomimi» is a little… long. Do you have a nickname?"

"Neko, and don't use any honorific," he called back, staying a few paces ahead of them.

Agil nodded. Kouichirou wasn't sure if the giant was unbothered by Neko's childish actions, or if any displeasure was just hidden by his eternal appearance of friendliness.

"By the way," Agil restarted the conversation, "I heard from Granden that this whole organization was your idea."

"No, Granden did most of the organizing. All I did was offer help in the streets."

"But it was your idea."

Kouichirou nodded. "I just wanted help to look for my sister. She's in the game, but I haven't seen her."

"Oh? What does she look like?" Agil asked.

"She's quite a lot younger than me. About this tall," Kouichirou gestured with his hand, "and with bright orange hair." He hoped that was enough information; there probably weren't a lot of people like that.

Agil nodded. "Let me send you a friend request - I'll send a message if I see anyone like that." The window appeared before Kouichirou and he accepted.

"Send a friend request to me, too." Neko had slowed down to walk at Kouichirou's side.

Kouichirou sent the request, and regretted it as soon as he heard Neko murmur, "I hope she's a nekomimi."

It was probably better to pretend he hadn't heard that.

"What's your sister like, by the way? It would be easier to find her if we knew she liked adventuring or something," Nekomimi continued more seriously.

Kouichirou almost laughed. "Well, she's not that adventurous, and she's not much of a gamer either. She was always invested in her schoolwork, and had a rather hardworking personality, though I'm not sure how well that will translate to gaming."

"Well, if she wasn't at the warehouse, then she's probably getting along fine. I'd guess she's found some good friends," Agil said.

"I hope so."

Their conversation turned to discussing Agil. He apparently owned the bar he worked at. Kouichirou supposed he was really worried about the fate of that business, but Agil didn't show it. Perhaps he was still acting the good host, keeping others away from his troubles. Even so, Kouichirou was worried for his new friend.

Neko didn't seem to share the same sentiment, returning to his place a dozen paces ahead, skipping this way and that to examine a doorway or an interestingly-shaped cobble. To the whole world he acted the innocent, curious child but for his appearance as a high-schooler.

Their first stop was the temple of Saent-Camille. It was a large church atop a small hill, serving as the well-kept temple at the center of a more affluent neighbourhood. It was all massive columns and domineering architecture, prioritizing a grandiose exterior over an approachable one. Its front was covered in intricate carvings, slightly reminiscent of a Gothic European cathedral. Glassless windows at the height a second floor would be cooled the interior quite a bit; Kouichirou suspected the main hall would be unbearable in the winter or at night. However, a series of grand doorways along the walls gave the indication that this main hall was more a ceilinged pavilion than a place of worship, though small shrines lay nestled in concavities in the walls.

A priest quickly approached the players standing dumbly in the center of the hall. He spoke somewhat quickly, as if he was short on time. The lack of many other people gave Kouichirou the notion that it wasn't because he was busy.

"Welcome to the Church of Saent-Camille. Would you be looking to commune with a «God of the Hall», or to seek advice from Harkysh?"

Agil stepped forward, putting on his friendliest smile. "Actually, we are here to ask for help from anyone who can give it. We have only come here recently, and we are having some difficulty finding a place to stay. Would it be possible to spare a room for a few of our friends, just for a few days?"

The priest looked at Agil with sharp eyes. "Do you have anything to offer?" He rubbed his index finger and thumb at his side.

"We are rather short on funds, but we can spare some 500 Cor-"

"I suppose we can spare some space for, say, eight of your _accomplices_ for a week. If they don't come with their funds, however…"

Agil merely nodded his understanding, before thanking the priest and turning to leave.

The priest watched their backs until they were back to the street.

"What a dick," Nekomimi announced as soon as they were away from any listeners.

"We can't expect everyone to give charity without anything in return. That was actually a really good deal, 500 Cor for eight people for a week," Agil said, though he did have a slight frown on his face.

"That just means he's a cheap dick. To make an ethical decision, you need _at least_ one argument for and one against. Judging by the fact that most of the NPCs are hiding from us, the argument against is pretty strong. He spoke down to us without knowing anything about us, then overturned his own values, however racist, for a cheap price."

"…That's actually pretty observant of you," Kouichirou said, trying to hide the surprise in his voice.

"My dad was a foreigner," Neko said quietly. "What's more important is figuring out why, because it wasn't just because we look poor. I recommend our friendly teddy bear talks to some people next chance he gets."

 _Did he just call Agil a 'friendly teddy bear?'_

Despite Neko's ability to crush any positive opinion anyone could have of his mannerisms, Agil still agreed to his idea. A knot of NPCs had been discussing something in hushed tones and sombre expressions. Their conversation broke off as Agil's shadow fell over them. One of the NPCs stared at the giant, mouth hanging open. Most of the others had more subdued, yet still cautious or fearful, reactions to the approach of a player.

Then Agil smiled, and all tension seemed to dissipate from the air.

"Excuse me, but I have noticed that I am getting strange looks from people on the street, and not just from my size. Would it be too much to ask one of you to explain why?" Kouichirou noticed that Agil's tone was more one of formal respect than the collected friendliness he'd always imagined a barman to have.

"But isn't it you players' fault?" one of the NPCs asked.

"Apologies, my friend," Agil said. "We players are not nearly the united front you seem to see us as. I ask why you are agitated not because I misunderstand your perspectives and feelings, but for a lack of information. If something has been done to anger you so, I would do all I could to help right that wrong, and I'm sure there are many other players that share my feelings."

"Well said," Kouichirou agreed with a nod.

Some of the NPCs relaxed on hearing Agil's perspective. That man really had a way with people. Finally one of them spoke, "I'm afraid there is no way to right this wrong. The Count Palatine, Richren g'Veocsogas solun Garad, was killed in his home last night. His son witnessed a player escaping from the premises."

Several other NPCs lowered their heads or offered prayers to the deceased. "What kind of a man was he?" Agil asked.

"He was a capable legislator, though not one to come in touch with his people often. His son has much more potential - it's a shame he'll likely lose out as the nobles begin their struggle."

Agil lowered his head in respect. "Thank you for enlightening me. I will remember the man well."

The trio moved on, and Kouichirou could tell at least those NPCs saw players in a new light. Perhaps if Agil was their group's public speaker, the other groups could have the same success turning opinion around.

"So what do you make of that?" Kouichirou asked no one in particular.

"…I'd guess at least one player was upset at the… situation. He must have attack the highest-ranking NPC he could find."

"I'd say it would have to be more calculated than that. A city ruler is going to have guards and mages or whatever it is Argus dreamed up. That's not something a new player could just waltz through on day one," Neko said.

"You're saying it wasn't a player?" Kouichirou asked.

Neko shook his head. "I'm just saying it's someone who was skilled in that kind of stuff to begin with."

Kouichirou shivered. He didn't want to be trapped in a game with someone who learned to infiltrate and kill in their world.

"Imagine how far the Chuunibyou would have to go to get that good," Neko concluded, a hint of awe in his voice.

"I hope you're not looking up to him," Kouichirou said dryly.

"No no, I'm not into that kind of stuff. Nekomimis or go home."

Kouichirou shook his head, and even Agil looked slightly uncomfortable. As Neko ran ahead again, Agil commented, "And people ask why I don't want kids."

Kouichirou laughed.

As they continued walking, the scenery around them changed. The large and well-kept houses of the upper class gave way to more dirty, cramped, and impoverished streets. It was hard to believe they had only traveled a few streets down the hill.

The people they encountered weren't rushing from place to place or gossiping in groups as they had near the temple. Instead, they seemed to be sizing up Kouichirou, calculating if Agil was as powerful as he looked. Neko had already darted ahead, and Kouichirou was beginning to worry for the teenager's safety.

Out of nowhere, a small rock arched over the street, over Kouichirou, and straight for Agil's head. He caught sight of it a moment too late, and it collided with his bald crown, spurring the formation of purple hexagons.

The ruffians seemed to give up on seeing Agil unaffected by the throw, but Kouichirou was worried about something else.

"Are you okay?" he quickly asked.

Agil nodded. "The knockback is disorienting, but there's no damage." He didn't seem all that surprised that NPCs would attack in a «safe zone».

"Good, because I need to check something. Let me hit you really quick?"

Agil nodded, somewhat surprised, and Kouichirou gave a light punch to his stomach.

The purple hexagon appeared, reading,

｢Safe Zone Protection. «16:39:52»｣.

The two of them were silent for a moment.

"It looks like we're going to have to move fast," Agil said.

Kouichirou nodded. He looked back down the street, but Neko was still nowhere to be seen. The temple of Turankh should have been just down this street, so he couldn't have gotten too lost.

Agil and Kouichirou kept moving.

The NPCs of the neighbourhood still watched them pass, but in smaller numbers now. They didn't seem as aggressive as those that had thrown the stone, nor as fearful as those around the temple of Saent-Camille, but Kouichirou still didn't want to approach them.

As they walked, Kouichirou realized they might have passed the temple; they might have to do just that.

Luckily for them, that was just when Neko came back.

"Yo!" he called from behind. "Where are you going?"

Agil and Kouichirou turned around. Neko was panting slightly, apparently having run up and down the street looking for them.

"We couldn't find the temple."

Neko sighed. "For such capable looking people, you have no idea how to navigate streets properly. Didn't you ever go exploring as kids?"

The boy led them back the way they'd come before turning into a narrow and dark alley. The sun's light hardly reached the ground here, and the alleys that branched from this one were hardly wider than Agil. Neko continued without paying any mind to the uneven cobbles in the dark, racing through a web of ever more confusing paths.

Finally, he stopped. Kouichirou stood next to Neko, and looked followed the teenager's gaze to the temple. It was a building that was on its last legs; Kouichirou was unsure how it stood even now. Its front was made of rotted wooden beams he was sure would have snapped if he knocked on them. Some of those beams had probably already given way, judging by the slight lean to the right. Deep gouges at the top of the arched doorway gave the impression that it was the mouth of some demonic beast, not the entrance to a place of worship.

"Are you sure this is a temple?" Kouichirou asked.

"In the context of a game, don't all temples look either like this one or Saent-Camille?" Neko asked.

"But, well… I can't believe someone would come here to worship."

Neko ignored him as he led the way through the gaping demon's maw.

The inside was considerably more comforting than the outside. Sure, it was dank and gloomy, but a surprising amount of green light shone through the windows high along the sides. There was something comforting about its compact layout, and its almost homely messiness. A desk in the corner, behind the altar, was littered with paper, quills, ink bottles, books, and anything a medieval intellectual could care for.

It was just like Kouichirou's desk back home.

Unfortunately, the temple was empty. Agil and Kouichirou stood awkwardly in the aisle while Neko began examining the weathered mosaics running along the base of the walls.

They didn't have to wait long. A trapdoor in the back corner of the room creaked open, and an old bald man emerged. He quickly dusted himself off and scanned the temple.

"Ah, guests. My apologies for not meeting you sooner. You weren't waiting long, I hope?"

Agil shook his head with a smile. "No, we arrived a mere few minutes ago."

The old man returned the smile. "An interesting trio, I see. My name is Verian, priest of the Temples Lia. How may I help you today?"

Kouichirou was somewhat surprised at the old man's energetic friendliness. Perhaps he had realized on his own that the death of the Count Palatine had not been a team effort of all players, or maybe he hadn't even heard the news at all yet. The former would be far better for them; staying on the premise of lies wasn't safe.

Agil explained their situation and asked Verian for help. He immediately nodded.

"This temple is an ancient one, and perhaps not the most comfortable nor the most… spiritually tame. Those souls brave enough the face the darkness of Turankh are free to rest here, though I warn that all the available space is in this room. Of course, I wouldn't mind you moving the pews to make more space."

Agil looked around. "If you're not bothered by us taking so much space, we could bring thirty people here."

Verian nodded. "I'm not bothered, but I will say again - come here only as a last resort. This place is neither comfortable nor safe for all but the bravest and most purposeful. You three would be fine, but for a large number of people, I would recommend Saent-Camille or Ildya."

"We've already been to Saent-Camille, with little luck."

Verian laughed, an odd merging of a cackle and a hearty chuckle. "For a temple to be so inhospitable because of such a small disturbance."

"I don't think the death of a prominent noble could be considered minor," Kouichirou commented.

"I'm a historian, my dear boy. The death of one man, while more poetic, is not the major event the death of a hundred or a thousand is."

Verian seemed to have finished speaking on this subject. He walked over to Neko, who was examining the mosaic strip that ran along the ground. It went up to his knees, so he was crouching down a little to look more closely.

"A keen curiosity you have there," Verian commented. "I can tell you more about it when you come back. Don't you have somewhere to be right now, though."

Neko shot up. "You're right. What's the fastest way to Aiste, by the way."

Verian gave some quick directions that seemed to revolve around counting clotheslines. Neko nodded and took off, hardly waiting for Kouichirou and Agil to keep up.

It wasn't long before Kouichirou and Agil couldn't see Neko anymore, and were simply following him based on the echoes of his footsteps and the occasional glimpse of him before he turned a corner. He seemed intent to get out of the alleys as fast as possible, and Kouichirou realized that might not have been a bad move. He hadn't seen anyone here, but he didn't want to think about what kind of people would corner them if they lingered.

After a few turns, though, Kouichirou realized he was completely lost. Neko's footsteps were fading; he and Agil were left in a shaded alley without any idea of how to get to the main street.

Kouichirou stopped at an intersection. "Did we take a wrong turn?"

Agil shook his head.

Kouichirou looked right, then left. He hadn't understood Verian's directions, and hadn't seen which path Neko took. They'd hardly been going in a straight line, so he didn't even know what general direction to aim for. He turned back to Agil to ask if they should stay put or take their chances.

Before he could talk, Kouichirou flinched. Behind Agil stood someone else. Hooded, with a long, white serpent coiled around his neck and hanging down from his shoulders.

"What is your connection to the man Irae?" His voice was melodic yet dangerous.

 _Irae. He was logged on before the game went online._ Kouichirou struggled to keep his face neutral. It wasn't like this man could do anything to them in the safe zone, at least for a few hours.

"I've never heard of him," Agil said. The friendliness had disappeared from his voice, yet it was neither fearful nor hostile.

"The boy in your party met with him. Do you know anything about that?"

Agil shook his head.

"What about you?" the man asked Kouichirou.

Agil still spoke. "I've been with hi-"

The hooded figure extended his hand sharply. A cobble detached itself from the ground and slammed into Agil's torso, knocking him back a step. Three more cobbles detached from the ground at struck him in quick succession, sending him flying across the alley. The giant struck a hard wall with the back of his head and slumped, unconscious.

"I was asking you," the man said. His tone was unchanged.

"I've never even heard the name. Is that a fruit or something?"

The man tsked.

It was at that moment that Neko reappeared from the alley on the right. He looked over this scene with confusion.

"And you? What do you know of Irae?" the man asked.

Neko looked to Agil's limp form, before replying in a slightly fearful tone, "He was in an alley. He showed me how to get to a temple. I was thinking, 'oh, hey, I can go brag about how good I am at traversing alleys,' and I didn't tell them about him. That was all he did, though. I don't know anything else."

The man tsked again. He glanced around and turned to leave. The sickly white snake around his neck turned its head back to peer at them with its bruise-red eyes.

A moment passed, and someone else entered the scene. A man of average height, with a hint of European heritage in his face and eyes. He emerged from the alley on the left, clapping Neko on the shoulder.

"Thanks for the help." He handed him some potions and continued down the alley after the hooded man.

"What was that about?" Kouichirou asked.

"No idea. That Irae guy just came to me and told me to head here."

Neko stood still. Kouichirou gave him a questioning look. "Shouldn't you be using that potion on Agil?"

Neko started. "Oh, yeah. Good idea." He poured a few drops on Agil's torso, where he'd been hit, and on the back of his head where the wall had collided with his skull.

A few moments later, Agil's eyes fluttered open. He stood up slowly, his hand on the wall for support.

"Are you okay?" Neko asked. "That was a bad hit. It looked like the «Safe Zone Protection» didn't kick in.

Agil tilted his head from side to side, checking his movements. He rotated his shoulders.

"Agil?" Neko asked. "Status update? Did you go mute? Are you dying? Agil, talk to me."

Agil paused and looked to him.

"That hurt harder than a kick to the fucking balls."

Neko paused, then burst out laughing. "I didn't think you had those kinds of words in your vocabulary."

Kouichirou started laughing too, and even Agil joined in.

Strange how mere moments after a life-or-death situation, people who had known each other for such a short time could laugh so easily together.

* * *

 **A/N** : After all that development of the «Saints» storyline, with Argo and Irae commandeering the plot, it was time to turn the focus to some other characters. While Irae does make an appearance, its more of a cameo, setting things up for future development of Neko. However, I regret not being able to give Yui and appearance in this chapter.

I'm really happy with Neko's character. He takes on more of a comedic relief kind of role, though he does go well with the theme that everyone is a little more than they seem. It's also really fun to find ways to crush Kouichirou's opinion of him whenever he says anything smart.


	13. Chapter 12

Yuuki woke fairly late in the morning, probably due to the exhaustion of wandering around well into the night. Ran wasn't much better, still expunging the last remnants of sleep from her eyes as Yuuki sat up.

"Morning," Ran said idly.

"Mh," Yuuki responded.

They both took a moment to stretch. It was perhaps longer than most people would find reasonable, but it held a certain novelty to the two sisters.

"So, any idea what you want to do today?" Ran asked.

"Maybe you could think more than a few hours ahead, and we could find where we're going to sleep tomorrow."

Ran groaned. "But that takes…"

"Effort?"

" _Fine_. We'll ask around. But after that?"

Yuuki paused a moment. Ran had an excited expression; she was just waiting for Yuuki to say what she was thinking.

Yuuki glanced at the coat that was still draped on top of her legs. "Last night… That was Andy, wasn't it?"

Ran nodded fervently. "He should have stopped by to tell us he got the game," she complained, smiling.

For some reason, Yuuki wasn't as excited about his presence as Ran seemed to be.

A few people passed by on their way out of the warehouse. Their expressions as they saw the young twins were a mixture of the confused and the sympathetic.

Yuuki watched them pass. "Somehow, I don't think most people are as excited about having the game as we are."

Ran nodded. "I suppose it's harder to appreciate what you have when you just lost something else."

Yuuki nodded. She took another moment to tilt her head side to side, before pushing herself up. It was a wonderful feeling, to have the power to stand, the fitness to go anywhere, to see anything herself. She felt like her only limitation was in thinking up things to do, and with Ran around, that was hardly a limit at all.

It was a shame not every player thought that way.

The two sisters got up and looked around. It seemed most people had already left. They couldn't find Inkling, but they did run across the man they'd helped with the grass yesterday. A quick exchange between him and Ran revealed they didn't have to worry about housing, so long as they got back around eleven.

"It's still nine. What do you want to do with our two hours?" Ran asked.

Yuuki checked her own menu. "You mean it's almost ten, and we have one hour?"

Ran rolled her eyes. "The time still _starts_ with a nine," she murmured under her breath.

The two sisters wandered out of the warehouse, stopping at the nearest corner to enjoy the sun.

"So, where do you think he'll be?" Ran asked. "Andy, I mean. We won't find him unless we have some ideas."

"Most people are probably going to the fields to earn some EXP," Yuuki proposed idly.

"We both know he's a little too weird to go where everyone else will."

Yuuki smiled. "In that case, I think we both know where he's going to be."

They'd first met Andy just a few months ago, in an early VR game. It could hardly be called an MMO—it operated on the hospital's local network, and only a handful of people were ever able to play. Even so, Andy had been one of the few people the sisters had met there, and he'd made their lives seem bright and hopeful for the first time in years. He'd always been saying how even someone who was sick could learn and create and _live_.

"That idiot wouldn't stop talking about how much he wanted to play a song for us," Ran recalled fondly. The game they'd played together, «Serene Garden», didn't have playable musical instruments added until after he'd been discharged.

"Still, though, I don't know where we're going to find some sort of music hall—we don't exactly have a map," Yuuki pointed out. She didn't want to go through with an aimless wander about the city like yesterday.

"Wait…" Ran started fiddling with her menu. After a moment, map appeared floating in the air in front of her.

Yuuki moved closer to Ran to get a better look. The map was clearly incomplete; it only included the outlines of buildings along the meandering path they'd wandered yesterday. It wasn't detailed, having only a few labels and lacking any detail on the circuitous alleys aside from where they intersected with major streets. Yuuki still scanned the little piece of the map they had, and sighed in relief as she saw a label reading «Concert Hall», not far from the central plaza. They must have passed by it late last night without noticing.

Ran spotted it a moment later. "Probably not the only music-related building around, but it's a good place to start looking."

Ran quickly found a way to label the warehouse on the map, and they set off. Navigating the city only by main streets turned out to be quite easy; omitting the alleys meant a less confusing map, even if the most efficient route wasn't visible. It wasn't long until they found themselves before the Concert Hall.

Today, in the daylight, the building was unmistakable. Yuuki wondered how they'd ever missed such a structure—it was the most intricate, ornate building the she'd ever seen or heard of. Some temples in the city had given the image of being grand or even ethereal, but this cathedral before them radiated an aura of pure luxury. Rows of marble columns, each really a collection of several intricately carved pillars, rose to support a roof covered in so many images in relief they seemed to spill from their containers and reach for the world outside their stone prisons. Glass windows, a rarity in a medieval city like this one, towered from the top of the entrance all the way to the roof three floors above.

And that was just its forward face.

Ran lead the way inside with some uncertainty. Yuuki felt this place was just too _expensive_ for someone like them. She kept following thinking that there were probably nobles that would feel the same way.

The inside was just as beautiful, if not more so, than the outside. As Yuuki looked around, she spotted at least six different colours of marble polished until it shone. Even the candelabra holders across the walls were carved in fractal detail, and framed with patterns that traced across the whole ceiling in a simultaneously dizzying and soothing display of art.

"Hello, and welcome to Palais Fradere," a voice startled the sisters out of their dazed observation. It came from a formally dressed man leaning out of a window in the wall a few meters down the hall.

The sisters walked over to him, trying their best not to seem the street-wandering children they were. Now she was closer, Yuuki could see the man was managing a ticket booth or office of sorts, standing in a room connected to the hall only by an open window. Behind him were shelves filled with instruments and documents.

"What can I help you with?" he asked with a hint of boredom in his tone.

"Uhh… We're looking for a man, Andy. Average height, brown hair, plays the piano and violin. Did someone like that stop by in the last two days?"

"We only had two players aside from you who have come here in the last two days. The first matches your description; that would be Irae, who stopped by yesterday and borrowed a violin. I haven't seen him since then, but you may want to talk with Lady Alexis. They certainly took a liking to each other." The man looked a little bothered by that.

"Where could we find her?" Ran asked.

"Try going to the Magicians' Guild." The man had been containing his boredom, but it seemed his countermeasures were weakening. He leaned back in his chair without waiting for any reply from Ran.

"I don't think he was the kind of person you'd want to associate with," he said ominously. With that, the twins' presences seemed to drop out of his perception. He took out a book and began scanning through it, his hands held in the air before him as he played a piece only he could hear.

The sisters abandoned him to his aggravated boredom and left the Concert Hall.

"Somehow, I was more worried about meeting rich snobs than an aggressively introverted man at a counter," Yuuki commented idly.

"Yeah," Ran laughed. "Well, seeing as we have an hour, wanna fill out our map a little and go looking for the Magicians' Guild?"

"You mean we have around half an hour and should really be heading back?"

Ran rolled her eyes, and they began to head back to the warehouse.

"By the way," Yuuki said. "Are we sure that the guy Irae is Andy?"

"How many people do you think would track down a Concert Hall on day one of a game?" Ran asked.

"Good point, but…"

"If it's not him, there's no problem."

Yuuki had to agree with that. They would have to take what leads they could get.

"So," Ran said with some seriousness after they'd walked a few meters. "I've been thinking."

"Oooh, scary."

"Shut up. I'm just thinking, maybe we could see where some of these alleys lead." Ran pointed out some alley entrances in the right general direction.

"Are you sure they're safe?"

"We made it through fine yesterday. Here, let's take a look." Ran rushed over to the entrance of a nearby alley and peered inside.

"Why are we hiding behind the corner?" Yuuki asked.

"Shh!"

Someone was languidly walking down the alley. His hood was down, revealing his light hair, but Yuuki couldn't see his face.

"He doesn't seem so bad," Ran commented.

"He has at least three daggers on his belt."

"So?"

Yuuki shook her head, exasperated, as they continued to spy on the man.

As he walked, another figure ran up to him. A boy, elementary school age, tugged on the figure's sleeve.

The man turned his head slowly. Yuuki saw the side of his face contorted in disgust, his eyes narrowed in anger. In an instant, one of his daggers was at the boy's throat.

Ran gulped.

The man held the dagger there a moment and whispered something. Then he lowered his hand, and continued his slow, tired walk.

The boy stood in a trance for a moment. His return to his senses was sudden, and he darted off after the figure.

"So I guess we're not taking the alleys," Yuuki said.

Ran shook her head, and they continued on.

Even though they were a little early, there were already people flooding back to the warehouse when they got there. Inside, a crowd had already formed. Yuuki was sure there hadn't been this many people at the warehouse last night; some must have come after hearing about this from others. The crowd was easily over a hundred now, and quickly approaching two hundred.

"You think we can squeeze our way to the front?" Ran asked, already taking Yuuki's hand to drag her forward.

"Wait!" Yuuki quickly pulled Ran back. "I thought I saw Inkling over there." She pointed to Inkling, standing with a few other people in idle conversation.

Ran spun around. "Well, lead the way."

Yuuki wasn't as good at navigating crowds as Ran, but they were both quite small for their age, and could slip easily between people without many problems. The sisters made their way behind Inkling without him noticing.

"By the way, Neko," one of Inkling's companions, a giant of a man, was saying. "I just got a message that no one can go fighting in the plains right now anyways, so it was a good thing we didn't waste our time going there."

"Some adventure game, huh? Can't even do any fighting the day after release," a teenager, Neko, responded. Despite his complaint, he didn't seem that bothered by it.

"There are other places to fight," Inkling replied didactically. "You could go to the south gate or the sewers—"

"Yeah, the sewers, everyone's dream adventure location." Ran said sarcastically, surprising Inkling enough to make him jump.

Inkling spun around. "Oh, it's… Ran, wasn't it? How are you doing?"

In that instant, Ran saw Neko's eyes narrow as he examined the two of them, before disguising his close examination almost as soon as it started. For that fraction of a second, he seemed to be someone completely different from moments ago. He gave the impression of someone who was perpetually lying about something. Yuuki squeezed Ran's hand slightly, and Ran squeezed back.

They'd had this system from a long time ago. Ran was better at dealing with people, but Yuuki could catch things that went by in an instant. If she ever saw something, she'd squeeze Ran's hand to let her know.

"We were just exploring," Ran said offhandedly. "Why don't you introduce us?"

Inkling nodded. He introduced the giant as Agil and the teenager as Neko. As the latter was introduced, Yuuki gave Ran another pulsar message to "We were helping find some places where people could stay."

"Oh? Where's that?" Ran asked.

Inkling seemed to mistake her standardized answers as avid curiosity, and met it with his own. "Well, we were going to various temples to ask for space for people to stay a few days, but I hear that really young people can go to the Magicians' Guild for something a little more long-lasting."

"Oh, we were looking for the Magicians' Guild," Yuuki said.

"Ho, the mute speaks," Neko commented humourously. Whatever secret side of himself he had was gone, as if it had never been there. "I suppose you want to learn how to throw fireballs around, right?"

"Who wouldn't?" Ran responded. "Well, we were also looking for someone."

"Well, more eyes never hurt," Inkling said.

"We had this old friend called Andy."

Yuuki caught another momentary change in Neko, this time in his hands. Did he know Andy?

"We saw him yesterday," Ran continued, "but he didn't stick around long enough for us to talk. We asked around, and we're pretty sure his game name is Irae."

This time, both Inkling and Neko reacted, though Inkling did a far poorer job of hiding it. Yuuki was sure even Ran caught it. Why was Agil the only one that didn't seem embroiled in some kind of secret?

"Do you know Irae?" Ran asked.

"Uhh… I think I heard his name mentioned somewhere." Even the twins, who hadn't come in contact with many people for the last few years, could easily see through that lie. Even so, they knew when someone didn't want to talk about something.

Inkling was saved by the beginning of an announcement. Yuuki couldn't hear the speaker, but silence still spread over the crowd like a wave. In a moment, the warehouse was silent and she could clearly hear a speaker's voice coming from where the front of the crowd must have been.

"Thank you," the speaker was good at projecting his voice. "I suppose I should start with this: I am Granden, and I am a developer of «Sword Art Online»."

The crowd broke down. Yuuki couldn't see for herself, but she was sure a group of players was trying to charge down Granden right then. Yuuki and Ran moved a little closer to Inkling's group, seeking refuge from the sudden change in the sea of people. Yells and jeers echoed through the warehouse for a few more moments before some of the more level-headed members of the crowd, including Agil, managed to calm the crowd in sections.

Finally, it was quiet enough for Granden to continue. "Yes, I am a developer, and there is something that I want to make clear to everyone right now. We at Argus had no idea what Kayaba Akihiko was up to, and if we had, I'm sure we would never have worked on this game at all. That being clear, we are still partially guilty of making this—this prison."

Granden let his words hang in the air for a moment. They carried multiple messages: an announcement of his ignorance and innocence, a promise to make up for a mistake, and a reminder of where and what they were—prisoners in a massive prison.

To Yuuki, though, this thinking was completely wrong. Thinking they were prisoners would only make people act like prisoners, which wasn't the way they were going to work together.

Granden continued speaking. "In light of that, I have a message. I want _all_ of us—developers, pro gamers, contest winners, people lucky enough to be at the front of a line—to work together to get out of here. We're not leaving anyone behind, and we're not going to give up. With just a few dozen people that knew each other, we have found places to stay for two hundred of you, and I want you all to think of what we could do if all ten thousand of us turned our attention the same way."

This sounded much nicer, but Yuuki couldn't help but get stuck on his words—'we're not going to leave anyone behind.'

What would happen to those that actually wanted to stay here? Would they be forced to leave against their will?

Even then, Yuuki could see that Granden's vision of ten thousand players all working together was doomed to fail.

Granden then explained that those in need of long-term housing were to go to the other side of the warehouse, behind where he stood, where they would be managed by members of the Magicians' Guild. He also asked that younger players be given priority in the positions there. In other words, Ran and Yuuki were likely guaranteed a place at the Magicians' Guild if they chose to take it.

"Should we go?" Yuuki asked nervously.

"Sure," Ran replied easily. She nodded to Inkling, but was stopped by his hand on her shoulder.

"I don't think I sent you a friend request last we met"—he quickly remedied that—"and I hope you'll send me a message if you see Asuna."

Ran nodded. "And you'll tell us if you see Irae."

He didn't seem to like it, but Inkling nodded.

The two sisters navigated through the crowd once again, making their way behind the pile of crates from which Granden continued his speech. Yuuki caught a glimpse of him as they passed by. He wasn't as old as Yuuki had imagined him, perhaps in his late thirties. He wasn't particularly commanding, and didn't seem that special. He was a man made a leader by those around him, and someone who had the strength to stick with it.

When they finally escaped the pressing mass of people, Ran and Yuuki emerged into an area populated with a scattered bunch, mostly teenagers and a few very young children that probably weren't even supposed to have the game in the first place. There were a few people that could be considered adults, perhaps nineteen or twenty years old, but the oldest people present were definitely the people sent by the Magicians' Guild. Taking charge among them was a woman with startling red hair. The players gathered around her in a big crescent, directed by the other magicians.

Yuuki and Ran joined the crescent as they waited for the last few players to arrive. The red-haired woman stood before her audience calmly and wordlessly, her eyes seeming to gaze far away at something conjured in the depths of her mind.

"Kind of creepy," a girl next to Yuuki commented. "She looks like she's in a trance."

Yuuki jumped a little, head snapping to the right. "Wha— uh, yeah, I can see it."

Ran took Yuuki's hand, and Yuuki relaxed a little.

"You're not good with people, are you?" the girl chuckled.

Yuuki laughed nervously. "No, it's usually Ran that does all the talking."

Ran leaned forward and smiled to the girl. The girl seemed surprised to see a pair of twins beside her, but she still smiled brightly. She was a year or two older than Yuuki, with short green hair and a bright expression.

"I'm Merida. It's nice to see some other girls around here."

"I'm Yuuki. My sister's Ran."

Merida nodded. "By the—"

Their conversation was cut short then by the red-haired woman. She seemed more focused now, and she raised her hand to get everyone's attention. She still didn't speak, though, waiting for everyone to end their conversations. Those that caught on quickly hushed those around them, a scene Yuuki remembered from her days in school.

"Hello, everybody," the woman finally spoke once everyone was quiet. Her voice was soft, as if she expected everyone else to put in the effort to listen rather than try to be easy to hear. "I'm here to take you to the Magicians' Guild and to get you all settled. I should warn you beforehand that your stay won't be free, and you will be expected to run some minor errands while you are there. We also have libraries and other such repositories of knowledge for teaching those among you that should be in school."

A few groans came from some of the younger kids on hearing this, but Yuuki was glad. While her memories were probably warped by time, she still recalled her early days in school with nostalgia, and looked forward to an opportunity to try that again. Though there was a good chance that feeling wouldn't last long after starting.

"Now, we'll be taking your names once we arrive, so until then, don't get lost. Find a friend or some such, and keep one of us in sight." The woman gestured to three other magicians who were spread across the line of players.

"Anything else? Oh, of course, names. You may refer to me as Alexis, I will be in charge of managing you in the coming weeks."

"That's—" Yuuki couldn't believe their luck. She looked to Ran, and found her face adorned with an impish grin.

"—Lucky," Ran finished. This was the very person they were looking for, and they'd just stumbled on her before even going to the guild.

As Alexis set off, aiming for a smaller exit toward the back of the warehouse, Yuuki and Ran rushed over to her, leaving a somewhat confused Merida behind.

They hadn't reached the exit when the sisters caught up to Alexis. The woman looked down on them oddly, as if she were a scientist regarding a strange specimen.

"Alexis?" Ran asked excitedly.

"Yes," Alexis responded dolorously.

"We're looking for a friend of ours. Someone said you knew him. His name is Irae."

The depressed air about Alexis evaporated. Her eyes seemed to fill with fire and she grinned evilly. She clapped her hand on Ran's shoulder, holding it in a grip as if to keep her from running away. "It seems we're going to have to have a long talk once we return to the guild."

Somehow Yuuki was no longer sure going to Alexis was the best idea. Maybe she should have told Ran about Neko's reactions. Maybe they should have asked some questions of some less questionable people.

The rest of their walk passed in tense silence.

* * *

A/N: My dear readers, I have a confession to make. This entire story, I've been using hyphens instead of em dashes. I hope you will excuse my terrible error, and expect an update to older chapters in the coming weeks to remedy this and miscellaneous spelling errors.

On a more minor note, I'm out of buffer chapters and no longer have a plan. This won't mean the story will update less often. It won't mean the story will get any messier—that would be impossible. It just means I have to plan as I go.

That said, I feel this chapter was somewhat lackluster, but it happens to be the last establishing chapter (hopefully). All my other POV characters have decided on their goals, more or less, and some of their themes are established, so you could consider this chapter to be the end of the introduction.

Yes, I'm in for a long story.

One more thing: reviews. I have gotten one (Thank you, RandomUselessInfo). To provide encouragement for you to write more reviews, I would ask who your favourite character is and why. Your vote may or may not decide who dies in future. Choose wisely.


	14. Chapter 13

Argo's eyes flicked up from her menu.

"You're late," she said to the approaching figure.

"I had some things to take care of," Irae responded dully. "Have you had some time to think?"

"I've called for someone I trust to help us out. He should be coming soon."

"As long as he's trustworthy…" Irae seemed distant as he spoke.

"Something bothering you?"

Irae clenched his fists. "Don't mind it. It's not something anyone else should be worried over."

"That's a blatant lie. If it can kill someone at a bad time, they better be aware of it."

Irae looked around the courtyard. It probably wasn't the best place to hold a large gathering of players; it was small and littered with raised troughs filled with plants and lined with benches. When everyone arrived, they would be divided by those features and their view of a speaker would be somewhat obscured. Argo didn't know why he had chosen such a place.

"It's not something that will get you killed," Irae spoke after a moment, still looking away. "I've just been thinking on some memories recently."

Argo bit back more questions. "Now then, the meeting."

"Yes, last night's meeting." Irae looked back to Argo, losing some of the dullness in his tone. "We two are saints set to fight against the others. The third saint is dangerous, and we know nothing of him. I suspect he's the one who invited me into the game—Glitch—but I can't be sure. The fourth saint is a player like us. He's secured the ability to attack players in the safe zone, and he's been using it. I've been tracking him, and it seems he's looking for me as well. It's possible one of the other saints that _does_ know about me sent him to track me down."

"Could it have been Verian?" Argo interrupted. That creepy bald man had a way of getting people to trust him, but she wasn't sure if he dispersed his information.

"I doubt it. Four's been all over the city, but his connections seem to come from the Eastern quarter of the city more than anywhere else. He's likely going to be our first major opponent."

Argo nodded. "We know the fifth saint is Valse. Do you have any idea what he's been doing?"

Irae shook his head. "The game's still new. I won't have an information network for another day at least."

"You're already getting an information network?" Argo was impressed.

"Alexis, who you met this morning, is on our side. However…"

Argo gave Irae a sharp glare. "That's not a word you should be using. Don't tell me you're building a network around someone you can't trust?"

Argo had tried doing just that before, in a different game entirely. It didn't end well then, and here the stakes were much higher.

"Time is the biggest issue right now. Valse and Glitch have been in the game longer than the players, and we don't know what they have going for them. I've been making huge decisions without any information, simply because I don't know how far behind we are. Alexis has her own goals, but working against the fourth saint is also one of them. There's no way we can fight Valse with players alone."

"You're playing a dangerous game," Argo warned.

"Until I have information, I won't know who to trust. I'm not a gamer—I don't have connections like you do. If we fail now, we fail for good. Therefore, we have to get some connections, and fast. There will be consequences, and I'll just have to deal with them.

Irae took in a deep breath. For a moment, his expression seemed to change to one foreign to his face.

"Even if the consequences kill me."

Silence hung in the air for a moment. Argo took the slightest of moments to understand what Irae had just said. He was willing to die to take on an enemy he'd just come across. Or was there some kind of history? Had perhaps Valse been someone from his past? That didn't make sense—Verian had said Valse was from a completely different world. Then, was Irae also from a different world? Probably not. His fists were clenching again, just like when Argo had asked what had been bothering him.

Irae continued as if nothing had happened. "The sixth saint was a little girl. She's also been in the game longer than the players, and seems to be acting through a player. I don't know a lot about her, but I've already sent someone after her."

"Wait," Argo said. "What was that about dying? Why?"

Irae's expression changed about three times in the instant following her question. He seemed to chew on his answer before spitting it out.

"You were asking what was bothering me before. The answer is my mental state. I'm not entirely… whole. Different parts of my mind push in different directions, and a lot of them are obsessive. Right now, the push to stay alive isn't very strong. I don't have to be alive, as long as the twins stay safe. If I die, I leave that responsibility to you and Trick."

Argo wasn't sure what to think of the man standing beside her. He'd just admitted he was insane, and asked her to carry on his legacy. Should she even be associating with him? Could she even be sure he would continue working with her?

Was she really alone in this fight?

Her mind was saved from its spiral into questions by two new arrivals.

"You're late," Argo intoned, hiding the relief that someone she could actually trust had arrived.

One of the newcomers complained indignantly, "You said to come half an hour before the meeting, and I'm even earlier than that. When will you ever be happy?!"

"That will never happen, Eugene," Argo replied. "It seems we're both bringing someone new into our circle. Mine is Irae."

Eugene stepped in front of Irae to give him a close examination. Irae wasn't particularly short, but Eugene still towered a little over him. His height had gone up since yesterday, meaning he was this tall in real life.

"Yeah, this here's Mortimer." Eugene's friend was a strongly-built man with short brown hair and a serious expression. His purplish-brown eyes and something of his loose cheeks seemed to be a copy of Eugene's features.

Mortimer only spoke once he'd been introduced. His voice was gruff and businesslike. "You must be «The Rat» my brother has been talking about. I'm expecting great things."

Argo smirked. "I'm just an information dealer. So, are you here for business?"

"What can you tell me about the boars?"

"I normally charge in Cor, but seeing as that's in rather short supply, you're going to have to pay in a different manner. Let's say two pieces of information—anything from or taking place in the game. On request, by me, any time in the future."

Mortimer smiled cynically. "Already quite impressive. If I don't take the deal?"

"I'm sure there is someone else willing to lead this fight. You just have first access because Eugene brought you here."

Mortimer closed his eyes a moment, probably weighing his options. "How about all my money—it's more than the starting amount—and one piece of information?"

Argo shook her head. Mortimer sighed, and accepted the deal.

Argo began to fill him in on every detail about the boars—their flocking behaviour, how a certain kind acted as the nucleus of each stampede, and how she'd seen three of these elite boars last she'd looked from the wall. Mortimer asked a few questions, but ultimately seemed to internalize everything with stunning speed.

Irae and Eugene listened quietly. It was only after Argo had finished her explanation that Irae raised another point.

"You're going to have to remember when you make your plan that the boars aren't your only enemy. Right now, any large gathering of players with a leader taking charge sends a political message. By taking charge, you're not just the general, but also the president; make sure your platform is stable."

Mortimer nodded, beginning to pace in circles. He opened his menu and began making invisible notes in the air before him. Argo imagined this was how Newton or Socrates looked when they were working on a new discovery, momentarily oblivious to the surroundings they were trying to describe.

"You can't really get to him when he gets like this," Eugene said. "Now, was there a reason you called me here, Argo?"

Argo nodded and led him and Irae away from the muttering Mortimer, heading toward an alley leading away from the plaza. The only other person there disappeared around the corner before Argo could see anything other than a flash of red hair. Anyhow, it was too far away for them to hear.

Argo began with a long sigh. "We've gotten ourselves mixed up in something _big_."

"How so?"

Argo's throat was a little dry after explaining so much to Mortimer, but she began anyway. "There's someone here, a much bigger enemy than Kayaba Akihiko. From what we can tell, his goal is domination of players and the world."

Contrary to Argo's expectations, Eugene laughed. "If I wasn't absolutely sure you always told the truth, I would have thought that was a joke. Why am I not surprised that it was you who dug this up, and not anyone else?"

Argo remembered now why she liked talking to Eugene. He still took her seriously, but he always brought a humourous humanity to her thoughts.

"I guess he does sound a bit like a comic-book villain when I put it like that," Argo muttered. "Anyway, we happen to know that a part of that goal is to infiltrate the command structure of the players."

"How can he do that if there isn't a command structure?"

Irae responded, "Exactly why he had to force us to make one."

Eugene took a second to understand. "You mean he loosed those boars?"

"Possibly. Knowing that, we need eyes on the people at the top, and still have free hands to stop his agents. What I'm asking is that you keep an eye on your brother for me."

Eugene chuckled. "As if I would leave that guy alone. Thanks for the warning, though. Also, if you ever need help with your… whatever fight it is, I'm here."

Argo nodded, and they returned to the plaza. She didn't lead them far, sticking toward the rear of the area the crowd would come to fill. The primary criteria for a good location were invisibility and lookout-ability. The corner of the plaza, shaded by Eugene's towering form, was optimal.

"I don't suppose you're going to tell me anything else about your dangerous guy?" Eugene asked.

Irae answered, "The main problem right now is that we _don't_ know what's happening, and we won't know for at least another day or two. In other words, we could be playing right into anyone's hands right now, and we wouldn't even know it. In that regard, it's a good thing for us that the players can have a leader."

"You're saying your entire conflict is founded on paranoia. Got it."

"We have _seen_ these people," Irae explained uncaringly. "We know what they're trying to do, just not _why_. It's the people we don't know about, those that might take advantage of the situation themselves, that might be a bigger issue. We need allies to deal with them—I'm not the greatest judge of character, or the greatest strategist."

Following that last point was a subtle vocalization. It could be passed off as a grunt or even a breath, but it reminded Argo of Irae's earlier words. Had a 'different part of his mind' just tried to speak through his lips?

When Argo looked more closely at Irae, she saw no emotion in his eyes. His hands were curled into fists again, turning almost completely white from the pressure. Just how unstable was he?

What shocked Argo most of all was that she'd hardly noticed before she pointed it out. He'd seemed mysterious, perhaps alien, but not _unstable_. As she watched Eugene try and ask more questions, she realized he didn't notice anything either.

How long had Irae been hiding this?

It was already getting close to the appointed time, and people were drifting into the plaza. One party of those people quickly spotted Argo and darted over. They were the girls from the North Gate. The one at the front, the slim and black-haired girl a few years older than the rest, seemed quite irate, the others simply dragged along in her wake.

She marched right up to Argo. " _You_." She paused, glaring down at Argo. "You ran away, when you owed us money for running into that shitshow this morning."

Eugene looked at her, confused. Irae stood impassively, ignoring this new disturbance. There was to be no support from those two idiots.

"Sorry about that. Trick, was it?"

The girl glared at Argo. "It's Tori. Never use that name again."

Argo glanced to Irae. He simply shrugged.

Tori seemed to notice Irae for the first time. "And what are you doing here? Don't tell me you and «The Rat» are buddies now or something?"

Irae shook his head. "Just business associates. Anyhow, I would advise you to allow our little Rat a chance to speak."

Argo cleared her throat and straightened a little. She was still the shortest person in the conversation, but she could conduct people's attention when she had to.

"I promised you enough to last an extra day, if I recall." Argo manipulated the menu to send an appropriate sum of Cor.

"By the way, Tori," Irae said before she could leave. "Are you planning on staying here for the crusade?"

Tori glared at him. "Not if you're around."

Irae turned to Argo. "In a few minutes, our friend Mortimer will ask everyone to party together. How about you party with these three young ladies while I attend to our _red_ friend."

Argo might not have thought too much about his words not long ago, but now she thought about it, hadn't Irae called the other «Saints» by their numbers earlier? Wait a second. This morning, at the gate, he'd called him the red saint. Was there anything to this?

Eugene laughed. "Argo, I can see the gears turning. Don't overthink these things."

Argo almost laughed herself. Eugene was right; she was thinking way too much about this. There probably wasn't anything special about Irae's diction in particular. Argo told herself to focus on what she thought the best indicators of his mental state were. His mannerisms—he clenched his fists when he wasn't doing well. When Argo looked to him again, she saw that his eyes were a little unfocused. His hands were curled, but not tightly. That was a bad sign.

It might be better to have him leave for a while.

"I don't mind," Argo said.

Irae nodded and marched off. Argo watched him go for a while before he was stopped by some other players asking for additions to their party. Irae slipped away into the crowd, with the players still chasing after him.

For all that was wrong with him, he seemed like a certain solo player for those few moments.

"I assume you're fine with this arrangement?" Argo asked Tori.

"I suppose."

Their group was silent for moment. Eugene attempted to resuscitate their conversation by asking a question. "So I'm guessing something happened between you and Irae in the past?"

Tori glared at him, and even the Eugene's tall form crumpled under the force of that glare. "Don't talk about him again if you want to live."

Argo decided it best to save her companion from annihilation. "Now I think back, your friends never introduced themselves last we met."

Behind Tori were two other girls—one slightly taller and skinnier, with shocking orange hair and kind hazel eyes, the other slightly shorter and curvier, with eyes darker yet more exuberant than her friend's.

The orange-haired girl stepped forward with refined movements. Argo could see right away that this was someone from a rich family that had proper introduction etiquette hewn into her mind.

"Hello. I'm Asuna. Please take care of me."

The other girl was almost painfully casual by comparison, introducing herself as "Lisbeth, Tori's sister."

Then again, that impression might have come from Argo's lingering state of hyperawareness.

"Is that supposed to be some set name?" Eugene asked, still trying to seem friendly. "Out of Queens Elizabeth and Victoria or something?"

Tori just gave him a tired look. Her name probably came from Trick ( _Torikku_ ) being shortened. Even if she'd hated that name, Argo wondered why she still used a shortened version of it.

Eugene continued, "I'm Eugene. I work part-time as Argo's conscience. Let's work together today."

"So," Argo said, "I suppose you'll be our party's leader?"

"I don't have a problem with that." Tori sent party invites to Argo and Eugene.

It was already around noon, and it seemed Mortimer wasn't one to wait. The crowd grew silent as they noticed someone had risen above the crowd, standing on the edge of one of the raised troughs from which thin plants grew. The crowd reshaped itself as everyone pushed their way to a location from which they could see Mortimer.

Eugene and Tori looked to Argo expectantly, but she stayed put. They could see and hear clearly from here, even if they were somewhat distant.

"You sure like sticking to corners," Eugene complained.

"Center stage can only see half the actors at a time."

"At least they're not so far away."

Argo quickly looked to the other girls of Tori's party. Neither of them nodded back, but Argo guessed it was because they couldn't pick up on her cues rather than being unable to see.

Once the crowd was done jostling, Mortimer began to speak.

"Hello, comrades, and thank you for coming to this strategy meeting. As most of you may know, we are currently trapped inside the city."

Argo coughed. Technically, there were still ways out, even if most people didn't know of them.

"Outside the North Gate, right now, we are being insulted by Kayaba Akihiko. He's sent an army of plains boars—the weakest enemies in the game—to box us in. I don't want to take that, and I'm sure you don't want to be told by the man who trapped you here that he can tell you where you can and can't go, and what you can and can't beat. Anyone who's played «Sword Art Online» for five minutes has taken one of those boars down, and I know we've all been here longer than that!"

"He sounds like a coach giving a pep talk," Argo said.

"He'll get better," Eugene brushed it off.

Tori added, "Not the best speech, but he's definitely riling them up. He's avoided talking about beating the game, and made this a matter of pride instead. In other words, his platform is empowerment of players."

Mortimer continued his speech. "Luckily, we've learned how these boars act, and I'm here today to present to you a plan. I would ask that you group yourselves into parties of five or six, with at least one ranged weapon user. As damage will be coming from a stampede rather than an enemy's blows and no one has much armour yet, our tank groups will have to be excellent at dodging. If your party feels confident in your speed, teamwork, and dodging ability, come to me. Otherwise, form your parties."

Before the crowd could pull itself into motion, another player jumped onto the impromptu stage. He was slightly taller than Mortimer, with spiky brown hair and a face that seemed to perpetually frown. Argo recognized the sword strapped to his back as a fairly expensive one gotten from a hard-to-find merchant. He would have had to farm all of last evening to afford it; he probably hadn't had a chance to actually use it yet.

"Oi! I have something to say to you all!" the man roared.

The crowd paused, giving him their attention.

"I'm sure we've all thought a little about how we got to where we are now, and I'm _sure_ that some of us have come to the same conclusion—not everyone here is innocent. I don't care if you worked on the game, or if you're a beta tester—you should come forward and give up your money to those that you hurt!"

Tori, standing next to Argo, sighed. "Why is there always a fascist xenophobe? I give him two weeks, tops, before he's stabbed in the back."

On the stage, Mortimer seemed to have collected himself. "Do you really think that's the right decision…"

"It's Kibaou."

"Kibaou? The beta testers are in the same boat as us, and I'm sure that if the game developers knew what would have happened, they wouldn't have logged on. What does neutralizing our most experienced players do for us?"

"It makes up for the beta testers that up and ran out of the city, abandoning us, right after the opening ceremony! For all the experienced people that haven't come forward to help!"

Tori spoke again, "Why is he opening a dialogue with that fool? It's only going to draw more attention."

"Any idea how to shut it down?" Argo asked.

"Idiots like him aren't easy to shut up. If you have some numbers or solid evidence, that _could_ work, but you really have to find a way to destroy all public opinion of him."

"Numbers, facts, make him look stupid. Got it." Argo had already opened her menu and was typing out a message to Mortimer. He was at that moment trying to explain that not all beta testers belonged to the same group, and that punishing the ones that stayed behind didn't make any sense.

"Your brother seems a bit too straight-laced for this," Argo commented when she'd sent the message.

Eugene shook his head. "He's probably already got the assassination planned out. You're not the only person I have to be a conscience for."

He didn't seem to be joking. Argo wasn't sure if she should respect or fear either of those two brothers.

Mortimer got the message, and he did a very good job disguising the fact that he was reading.

"Now, I'm also sure that someone as knowledgeable on this topic as yourself also has some statistics to support your claim?" Mortimer asked.

Kibaou clearly didn't, but his argument didn't change. "Who needs that, when we know those people are out there, and they've done everything to get us in this mess?"

Mortimer stood a little straighter and addressed the crowd. "I'm sure you've all heard that. Our friend Kibaou is proposing that game developers and beta testers sacrifice their money to atone for stranding us in the game and in the city. Have I heard correctly, Kibaou?"

"Don't forget that they abandoned us, and that even now they could be standing right next to you!"

Mortimer spoke to Kibaou again. "Thank you for repeating your points one more time. Now, I would like to clarify that your accusations happen to be completely false. The game developers, who, by the way, were ignorant of Kayaba's machinations, were actually the first group to begin disaster response, pooling their resources to find shelter for hundreds of players last night and for the coming weeks. Beta testers have made an even greater sacrifice already—they were the ones to gather the information for today's campaign, and many of them died for it. Even now, there are parties of beta testers locating inns and scouting forests outside the city to prepare new players for the dangers of each region. I, for one, am thankful to have these people here, _supporting us_. You, on the other hand, have just _wasted_ ten minutes of our time that could have been spent preparing ourselves. If any parties had disbanded because of the suspicions you raised, then that would make _you_ the one holding us back."

Kibaou's frown had steadily deepened as Mortimer's speech went on.

"One more thing: you can't draw a sword from a back-scabbard," Mortimer finished. That wasn't something Argo had included in her message.

Enraged and trying to prove a point, Kibaou's hand shot to the sword-hilt over his left shoulder. Just as Mortimer had predicted, he failed to clear the tip from the scabbard, his arm merely getting caught in an awkward raised position.

A chuckle rippled through the crowd.

Before Kibaou could try to save face, Mortimer addressed the crowd again.

"Now, please form into parties of five or six, and could those more confident in their speed come to me." His tone destroyed any idea of further discussion.

Argo looked to Tori. "I think it was handled well, but he's still going to come back and bite us in the ass."

Tori nodded. "The speech probably destroyed a lot of his support, but he's not done. To really finish him, you're going to need some kind of example of how inept he is. Fabricate a huge failure or something, unload the blame on him."

Argo nodded. Beside her, Eugene was muttering, "Why am I always surrounded by psychopaths? Isn't there anyone normal around here?"

"That's how politics works, Eugene," Tori said. Even her sister seemed a little uneasy about her plan.

"Now, do any of us have an inclination to be a tank group?" Tori changed the subject.

Asuna and Lisbeth shook their head furiously.

"I'm not going through that again." Lisbeth looked a little green.

"It wasn't _that_ bad," Argo said.

Lisbeth gave her an odd look. "Well don't forget that we _mortals_ aren't immune to fear."

Argo froze. Didn't Verian say her goddess, as the «Saint of Two», was the goddess of fear? Did Lisbeth somehow know?

 _Stop. You're overthinking things again._ Lisbeth didn't seem to be insinuating anything.

However, now Tori was looking at her strangely.

"Just because I have a lot of experience with games doesn't mean I'm not scared of anything," Argo said.

Eugene laughed. "You better remember hearing that, because Argo's probably never going to admit that again."

Tori smiled, but Argo could tell that she still wanted to ask something. Why didn't she ask here?

Parties were being formed and Mortimer seemed to have sorted out many of the details regarding assignments. Even if they had little time, though, Argo knew that secrecy in their group would have to end eventually, be it hers or Tori's. Irae said he trusted Tori, even if she didn't seem to reciprocate. Tori was certainly capable. She and Argo could very well end up working together in the future, and they had to be able to trust each other.

Irae had basically said that he had no one to trust, and that he might die for that.

Argo made her decision. "Tori, I'm going to let you in on what's going on, but you're going to have to explain some things to me as well."

Tori looked at Argo again, this time with a truly withering glare. Argo was suddenly acutely aware of how much taller Tori was. The sight of an approaching stampede of boars didn't hold the same hostility or the same danger as the look levelled at her.

Then, Tori abated. Argo relaxed. She realized that she was covered in cold sweat. Had Tori really seemed that terrible just a moment ago? No one else seemed to have noticed the invisible exchange between them.

"You're right. It will have to wait, though," Tori said softly.

Mortimer finished his arrangements and stood back on his ledge, and he began to lay out those plans which were not already laid out.

* * *

 **A/N** : This chapter, the plot didn't move forward all that much, but I invested a lot of time into themes and characters. If you have the time for a review, why don't you tell me how well that came across—what do you think the themes are, or tell me if the characters are too simple or too crazy.

This chapter also develops politics. Our major parties are now warehouse and plaza. Warehouse is left wing, plaza is right wing.

I've received some feedback recently that everything is very complicated, and I will say that that is partially intended. As Irae points out in this chapter, the players don't have any information, and they could be manipulated by any number of people without knowing it. Things will become more apparent at the end of day 2, which is when the shit really hits the fan.


	15. Chapter 14

Mortimer's plan went largely over Asuna's head. From what she could understand, the dodge tank groups were tasked with keeping the boars running in circles as they'd done yesterday, while everyone else killed the boars on the periphery over time. Asuna wasn't sure if such a plan would work, but it made sense on the surface.

Their party—Asuna, Lisbeth, Tori, Argo, and Eugene—were designated «DPS-5», which Asuna was told meant damage per second. They were on their way to the north gate, where they were supposed to gather with the rest of the players for the start of the battle.

Argo and Tori conversed idly, seeming to avoid breaching some secret subject, and Lisbeth was beginning to get along with Eugene. Asuna felt she was some unnecessary addendum to the group, like she was an extra standing next to the main actors around her. She'd resolved to help Tori, to be more than just a follower, but now she found herself as the one left behind again.

"Asuna?" It was a second before Asuna realized Tori had just asked her something.

"What?"

"Argo just reminded me about something that I forgot to ask you about this morning. When you fought this morning, did you notice any difference from yesterday?"

Asuna thought back. "My sword felt really heavy, but I was already dead tired at that point."

"Could it have been because you fiddled with your avatar before logging on? I don't see much of a difference, but now I think on it, I'd say you were a little taller yesterday…"

"I couldn't find the undo button and couldn't change it back perfectly," Asuna pouted.

Tori laughed. "Just in case, why don't you try swinging your sword around a little? I remember the merchant saying something about your height yesterday."

Asuna's stomach lurched. She hadn't spent a lot of time with her sword, «Droplet», but she'd come to like it. Yesterday, moving it had felt natural, like it could carry her through any obstacle. She didn't want to lose the feeling of freedom she'd enjoyed so much yesterday.

Asuna pulled the rapier from its scabbard. It was a thin and light sword, built for stabbing and speed more than blunt damage or slashing. She flicked its point back and forth and instantly noticed that it felt heavier. She tried some stabbing motions, and they felt sluggish compared to what she'd felt yesterday.

However, Asuna had resolved not to be the weak member of the group. "It's fine," she lied to Tori.

Tori narrowed her eyes slightly, but she didn't say anything else.

"So," Argo continued where she'd left off with Tori. "You dodged my question. Why do you think Mortimer appointed Kibaou his man on the ground?"

At the end of his strategy briefing, Mortimer said he would manage the battle from the city walls where he could see, and he would appoint Kibaou as his second in command on the ground. Kibaou himself led the backup tank party, which would move in if a fourth horde of boars appeared or if one of the other tank groups failed. Most of the players had been confused by this—they'd just seen Kibaou ridiculed by Mortimer.

Tori thought a while. "If there's one thing I noticed about Mortimer, it's that he's a smart man. I would suppose it's because he's stuck on the walls where he can see the battle, and doesn't want Kibaou to get in any actual fighting either."

Asuna realized she was going to be left out again unless she said something. "Maybe Mortimer wants to blame Kibaou for any failures?"

Argo smiled. "It's nice we got someone else thinking a little, but that can't be it. Mortimer is still the man at the top; when things fail, it will be his fault first and Kibaou's second. Though it could be a statement telling Kibaou that if they fail, they fail together. He might also be trying to keep a closer eye on Kibaou."

Tori was nodding. Asuna was a little surprised by how much the people around her were thinking about these things. She'd always had an image of gamers as people obsessed with reflexes and memorizing useless statistics. Now, she was beginning to realize just how much everyone around her thought about everything. Argo didn't seem the kind of person that would score better than her on a history test, at least not in terms of explaining _what_ happened, but she could probably give a much better analysis of _why_ historical events turned out the way they did.

Their party was compressed by the other players of the crusade as they passed through the gate, and Argo silenced herself for a minute. On the other side, the parties were organized into three columns plus Kibaou's backup party. Each column was assigned to one horde of boars, with one six-man tank party and three DPS parties.

Asuna's party went to the middle column. People around them were checking weapons and giving each other last-minute pep talks, but Asuna got the feeling that none of them really knew what to do in these last few minutes before battle.

Tori and Argo were about to continue their conversation when they were sure no one else was listening, but they were interrupted by the arrival of the man Tori had scared away.

This was the third time Asuna had met this man, but she still didn't know his name. All she knew was that he was involved in some covert business with Argo and had some extremely negative history with Tori. Asuna's perception of his appearance might have been warped a little by this mystery. His green eyes seemed more guarded than they were, his expression seemed more calculating than it was, and he seemed to loom more than his height physically allowed. This image was slightly ruined by his somewhat rushed words.

"We have to talk, and fast."

Tori, perhaps noticing something about his bearing, put some of her earlier hostility aside. "Something wrong?"

"I need your thoughts on Mortimer, Kibaou, and that girl." He pointed to a small red-haired girl in a party positioned behind them and to the left. "Hurry."

"You know that takes time," Tori groaned, but continued anyway, "Mortimer is a smart man, or at least he thinks that. Directed, purposeful; his plan seems to have another layer to it, but I don't know what that is. His real thoughts are guarded, and he tries to mislead anyone who looks at him. People skills are more clinical than social."

Argo was watching this exchange with interest, seeming ready to ask some questions, but the man hurried Tori along.

"Kibaou is aggressive and confrontational, but he's not an idiot. His earlier display was likely due to some ambition—power or publicity, same thing. Easy to manipulate in that regard. Mortimer seemed to notice that, at least a little."

The man stopped her there, and looked to Eugene in a hurry. Lisbeth and Eugene had broken off their conversation a while ago, so he wasn't exactly interrupting, but the action didn't seem entirely polite either.

"Eugene. What communication channels does your brother have with the players who left the city?"

"Well, I introduced him to a few this morning before the opening ceremony, but not a lot. He has direct contact with less than a dozen, though they might be able to contact a few others outside the city."

The man's eyebrows drew closer. Asuna couldn't even be sure how many things were flying through his head then.

Mere seconds later, his head shot up again. "Tori, last person." He gestured to the distant red-haired girl again, without looking toward her.

"I haven't even heard her talk."

The man gave her a desperate look, and Tori continued.

"But from what I can see, she's a liar. I don't know about what, but she's hiding a lot. She seems… adept at fighting? She's trying to look like she's looking for you in the crowd, but she's already spotted you."

"Thanks," the man said quickly. Then, almost as an afterthought, he asked to the group as a whole, "Do you know what all that means?"

"Not the bit about the girl, but otherwise I have a good idea," Argo answered.

"The girl's not important to the battle," the man muttered, "Now, I have to go."

The man dashed off in the direction of the red-haired girl.

"Now I think back on it, that girl might have been the one in the alley we talked," Argo whispered, almost to herself.

"What was that?" Tori asked.

"Nothing," Argo answered. "What I'm more interested in is your almost mind-reading."

The whole group nodded in agreement. That man had gone out of his way to go to Tori just to hear her thoughts on people, and she'd said quite a lot about people she'd never spoken with.

Tori sighed and stared up at the sky. "I'm just good at reading people. He knows that."

"What kind of a relationship do you have with him?" Argo asked. "I mean, you dropped all hostility to him as soon as he came to you with a question—"

"I still hate him, but I know when to set that aside. It's just that I have to communicate my feelings and my observations through the same channels, and sometimes one is more important than the other. He knows me well enough to get both messages by now anyway."

"That's a rather calculated approach to people…" Eugene muttered under his breath.

Tori heard him. "It gets stuff done."

Asuna had to agree with Eugene, but at the same time she knew Tori's understanding of people had pulled them through a lot, especially yesterday. The feeling Asuna got was that Tori was like a wolf; deadly, smart, and capable, but friendly to anyone she considered a part of her pack.

Argo was similarly capable and calculating, but she didn't seem the kind of person to actively seek leadership. She only became a part of their party on Irae's suggestion, and had instantly relinquished the position of leader. Asuna saw this as strange, seeing as how she so easily took control of conversations and could be very communicative if called for. In school, people like that were always the first to take charge of group projects.

The other members of the party were comparatively quiet. Eugene would mutter his comments quietly, and Lisbeth seemed to follow suit. Asuna herself had tried to be more extroverted, but found herself unable to keep up with Argo and Tori.

Further conversation was put on hold as Tori's eyes were drawn to an area of space in front of her. She tapped something, and each of them received a notification that their party had joined the «Boar Campaign Raid Party».

Mortimer appeared on the wall behind the players, and everyone turned to look.

The walls were some five or six meters high, and Mortimer apparently didn't think his voice would reach all the players. Instead, a window appeared to Asuna's right, a little above waist height and angled toward her face. In large text, it displayed Mortimer's messages.

｢Let the operation Begin!｣

｢Tank groups 1 - 4 forward, break the horde into 3 groups｣

｢DPS parties follow at a distance｣

The players all pulled themselves together and set off at a fast walk. Adrenaline pushed some parties to enter a jog, but most controlled themselves and stuck to an energy-efficient walk. Kibaou's party was one which rushed ahead, trying to win themselves some glory before they were pulled back to act as a reserve.

Once Kibaou's party passed an invisible line, the horde of boars adjusted its course to begin tearing toward the players. Two of the other three tank groups caught up in time to deploy themselves around Kibaou's party and began their attempts to split up the boar horde. Kibaou's party stood in the middle of the oncoming flood of boars, while the other two parties positioned themselves close to where the edge of the charge would be. As the boars drew closer, Kibaou's party dashed sideways and the other two parties began digging their weapons into the flanks of the horde, building up their «hate» and killing the first boars of the crusade.

The last tank group joined in after the horde's first swing around as the process repeated. This party seemed a lot more reluctant to jump into the action as the other parties had. Asuna knew how scary it was to stare down a stampede of charging boars as they were, but from here it looked laughably simple. Other DPS groups that were still drawing closer must have been wondering why they were so slow to get there. Perhaps the reason Mortimer needed a man on the ground was to have someone that could sympathize with those he was ordering around as his mouthpiece.

By the time Tori's party had arrived, the first third of the boars had already been split off and lured across the plain. The boar hordes had expanded since that morning, meaning the remaining boars were estimated to number around three or four hundred. The horde didn't move like the somewhat amorphous shape as it had this morning, instead looking more like a river looping around the plain.

Tori brought their party to a halt a few dozen meters from the passing stream of boars. The tank groups already had a chance to build up «hate», so there was no problem trying to get in some damage. Tori drew her bow and fired at a small black boar on the periphery of the surging horde.

The boar let out a pained squeal and broke off from its companions, turning around in a wide arc. Asuna moved between Tori and the boar, sword drawn, to take it on.

This one was smaller than the ones she'd faced yesterday. The boar shot toward Asuna, and she darted to the side, holding her sword sideways. The blade carved an unsteady gash into the boar's flank. It was an awkward blow, but it was enough to send the boar stumbling to the ground. Lisbeth rushed in and clubbed it over the head with a crunch, ending the boar's life.

Tori had already aggroed another boar, and the other members of the party were fanning out to block potential approaches. It wasn't entirely necessary, as some of the boars she shot were dragged further _into_ the horde and pulled away or occasionally even trampled by their erstwhile allies.

Asuna received a new message from Mortimer in black. Messages intended for their party appeared in black, otherwise they were a faded grey.

｢Hordes splitting. Groups back off. DPS 4 - 6 follow Tank 2 Westward.｣

Tori quickly called everyone closer and they jogged a short distance away. Seconds later, the stream of boars began to undulate. Some individuals, perhaps those that had been aggroed but caught back up in the stampede, broke off and rushed some of the retreating DPS parties. Eugene hung back a little, efficiently cutting down a single stray boar that made its way toward them.

They slowed down a little, and Tori led them northwest, toward the forest slightly visible from the gate.

Everyone was panting slightly, more from adrenaline than from exhaustion.

"Not bad," Eugene said. "You're a good shot with that thing, Tori."

Tori smiled. "It's for dealing with former boyfriends."

"Did anyone spot how the other tank groups were doing?" Argo asked.

Lisbeth yelled, "They're charging straight for us! Go left!"

Eugene and Asuna both jumped to the left, but Argo and Tori stayed still.

"Take a look around before panicking," Argo grumbled to Lisbeth, pointing ahead. Kibaou's tank group was a few dozen meters ahead, pulling the boars a dozen meters from Tori's party.

As they watched, Kibaou's party shuffled themselves around, leaving Kibaou in the middle and positioning the others around where the edges of the horde would be. Kibaou waited longer than was sane before darting out at a right angle. The boars rushed in, taking hits from spear- and bow-users, some peeling off and being felled by more players standing behind. Kibaou himself even took out his sword—now hanging at his hip—and felled a few boars.

"They're doing an awful lot of fighting for a reserve unit," Eugene commented.

"Exactly why I asked about the other tank groups. We have to keep track of how worn out they are," Argo explained.

Eugene blanched. "If a tank group falls and Kibaou can't take their place—"

Argo nodded.

"Shut up and get in position. We have to pull a lot of boars and fast," Tori barked.

Tori pulled her bow out and began sending more arrows into the mass of boars. Compared to this morning, they were rather distant, but Asuna could still feel the thundering of hooves rattling her heart.

Many of the smaller boars on the periphery had already been pulled off or killed, leaving some of the larger pale-white boars exposed. Tori seemed to focus on these ones, sending arrows into their flanks and faces accurately from over ten meters away.

Asuna took on the first boar, with Lisbeth as her backup. The boar charged at her, shaking its tusks around as it approached. Asuna took a moment before jumping aside, but it was too early; the boar adjusted its course and began barreling down on Asuna.

Lisbeth quickly rushed forward, slamming the boar with her mace. The boar jerked aside and its tusks missed Asuna by a few finger-widths.

"Tori!" Lisbeth yelled.

Tori noticed the boar charging for her and managed to send an arrow into its leg before dashing aside. The boar shot past, and taking a stretch of ground to loop around and rush back at Tori.

Asuna took that time to rush forward. She brought her heavy sword in front of her, aiming for the boar's left flank. As the boar came rushing back at Tori, Asuna got herself on its right and dragged her sword along its flank. The boar's legs wobbled, but its momentum still sent it barreling toward Tori. Luckily, the girl had already drawn another arrow, and sent it flying into the boar's eye. It melted into the ground, tearing up the ground behind it as it slid to a halt.

"Get back in front," Tori barked at Asuna.

Asuna nodded and complied. Eugene and Argo had already felled another two white boars without issue, and stood waiting.

The boar horde had already rushed past, giving their party a chance to observe the rest of the battlefield for a few seconds. The three boar hordes were kept separated in three zones arranged in a triangle over the plain. Kibaou's party had withdrawn to the middle of the three zones, heading eastward. The northeastern horde, the first to be separated from the rest, seemed to have shrunk considerably, though that may have just been because of the distance. Kibaou's group was likely trying to relieve the most exhausted tank group. Tori's party was one of three DPS groups scattered along the Northwest horde's path moving into positions to catch the horde on their next pass.

"Things seem to be going rather well," Lisbeth commented brightly.

"Don't say that, you'll jinx it," Argo snapped back.

The sound of the approaching storm of boars thundered out any other conversation, and they quickly took up positions again.

Asuna stared down at her sword. Since Tori had brought up problems regarding her change in height and the merchant's words about that, «Droplet» had seemed unnaturally heavy. For the small boar, it wasn't an issue, but somehow she felt that it was this weight that left her in the white boar's range of attack.

She gritted her teeth as Tori shot herself another boar. In a few seconds, that boar would come rushing at her and—

It didn't change its course. It just kept going, following the rest of the boars. Now she looked closely, Asuna realized the boars weren't aiming for the tank group; instead, they were heading toward the center of the three hordes, after Kibaou's group.

Asuna glanced down at her message window. Most of the text had been grey, but now it was all pushed up by the dark, bold, and all capital letters of panic:

｢ALL PLAYERS EVACUATE｣

｢NEW HORDE SOUTHWEST｣

｢DPS 4 - 6 to the FOREST｣

Several other messages appeared in grey, explaining the evacuation targets of other parties.

Tori immediately called out, "Everyone, get to the forest. Argo, you're our rearguard!"

Asuna's heart was suddenly beating faster. She dashed off, chasing after Tori. Their assigned boar horde had already drawn away, giving them a view of what had happened.

The situation had changed drastically from just a few seconds ago. Across the plain, to the east, all those boars that seemed to have disappeared from the horde had reappeared to wrap around the tanks and several of the DPS parties. The northwestern horde was rushing southeast, cutting off retreat toward the city and preparing for a complete surround of Kibaou's party. A few scattered individuals were sprinting across the plain further north, aiming for the forest.

To the south was an even bigger problem: a whole new horde had materialized, as if from nowhere, surging northward. They would get to Tori's party in a few moments, but Tori wasn't reacting noticeably.

"Tori!" Asuna called. "Are we going to dodge those boars or what?"

Tori grinned. "Argo, can you do something?"

Asuna immediately thought Tori was just offloading responsibility, but Argo just called back, "Get us closer to the forest, and out of Mort's sight!"

Tori adjusted their course, putting in just a little bit more speed.

Eugene cried out, "Does anyone here actually know what is going on?!"

No one responded.

The sound of the stampede drew closer as they ran. Asuna glanced back. There was another DPS party somewhere behind them. A column of boars broke off from the rest to intercept them; there was no way for them to get away.

Before Asuna's eyes, the boars slowly enveloped the hapless players, surging around them like a tsunami wave. In a few moments, the players were gone, and the boars were surging toward the next party: Tori's.

They weren't going to make it to the forest.

"Argo!" Tori called out.

"I need to get closer to them!" Argo yelled back.

The boars continued to draw closer. Tori didn't issue any orders for a few moments. The party just ran as the pounding of hooves grew louder.

After few seconds, inexplicably, Tori slowed down almost to a halt.

"Everyone, gather together! Stay in a narrow column."

Confused, everyone did just that. Tori moved to the back of their column, staring down the approaching storm that was only a few tens of meters away.

An arrow shot from her bow, accurately striking a huge grey boar in the eye, killing it instantly. The boar was carried on the wave of boars behind it like a huge piece of driftwood. Tori had already pulled out another arrow, and sent it flying straight into the eye of another boar.

Asuna found it ridiculous to think that Tori could land these hits so accurately. The older girl was glistening with sweat, her face was tensed in concentration. She took down a third boar flawlessly, and that was when Asuna realized what her plan was.

The three boars had been right next to each other at the front of the stampede. Pushed by the raging boars behind them, they formed a wedge into the front of the stampede which came to rest just a few meters in front of them. The river of boars split around it, cascading around the tightly-grouped party.

A small black boar tried to squeeze in between the gap between two of these colossal corpses. Eugene jumped on the creature, felling it with a single strike of his sword. Its body served to plug the gap between their grotesque wall.

The only thing keeping the party alive was luck. If even a single arrow had missed, or if a single boar moved inward too quickly, they would have been crushed. If another boar as large as those three tried to push through, their wall would be torn apart.

"Argo!" Tori screamed.

Argo stood still. It took a moment for Asuna to realize she was in a barely-contained state of panic. Her hands shook. Then, she stood taller. Her eyes stared into the rush of boars calmly.

Something in the air changed. A set of hoofbeats louder approached, loud enough to overpower all other sound. Asuna was shaking. Her stomach was writhing, her heart seemed to be rattling against her ribs. The others seemed to be in a similar state. Only Argo stood tall, a tiny monolith in a sea of chaos.

The hoofbeats got louder. Whatever was making those, it was larger than the others by a lot. The ground shook with its steps. It was about to roll over their wall.

Asuna's heart stopped its seizure in her chest. Her vision narrowed, and her hearing simply gave out. Everything seemed to be dyed in some dark colour she couldn't identify. The world simply became too much to process, a roil of dyed colours and strangely muffled sounds.

Then, the strange episode ceased. The boars were gone, scattered. All that remained of the horde were the four boars that had protected them from the wave of death. Eugene seemed to have fallen to his knees, and everyone was breathing raggedly.

Everyone, except for Argo. She stood tall, looking out over the plain. They were so far from the wall, anyone standing on top of the wall wouldn't be able to see anything clearly. Mortimer must have just seen the horde appear, advance, and scatter, all over the course of a few seconds.

Tori pulled herself up. She may have stood over a full head taller than Argo, but it was clearly «The Rat» that seemed to take up the most space.

"To the forest, then," Argo commanded calmly.

"Yes, to the forest," Tori muttered, barely audible.

They reached the forest in just over a minute. A few other people were scattered around the treeline; the other parties from the northwest sector had arrived safely. They'd seen Tori's party surrounded, and thought them dead. Their arrival, and the dispersal of the fourth horde were the only pieces of good news for them.

From here, everyone watched what they could see of the battlefield. The southern sector had retreated successfully, some groups even trying to make an opening for the beleaguered northeast players to get away.

From what could be gleaned from the message window and what they could see, the northeast's tank group, «Tank-3», had missed a dodge and lost their party leader, succumbing to confusion and exhaustion. Kibaou's party had rushed to fill the gap, but the northwestern horde had rushed in for the surround. Kibaou's party then managed to dodge two hordes and hold out long enough for the south's «Tank-1» to help them out. Most of the northeastern DPS parties were annihilated, though a few scattered players managed to get across the plain and were just about to reach the forest. The remaining tank groups managed to juggle the hordes' aggro between them and reach the city.

The players in the forest were in a general state of shock. After all the effort they'd put in, after the operation seemed to be going so well from the beginning, everything had fallen apart. Some had found a display of all players in the raid, and found that some twenty of the seventy-two players in the raid were dead. What few parties from the northeast weren't completely destroyed made it out with only two or three players.

Tori pulled their party deeper into the forest, away from the others. She looked over everyone's faces, checking everyone over. Asuna felt unsteady on her feet, but she also looked everyone over. Lisbeth seemed more compact then before, still recovering from the terror of being surrounded as they'd been. Eugene also seemed to be in a dazed state. Argo was awkwardly staring at her feet, only looking up to meet Tori's look. Tori herself seemed strangely collected. Since Argo had done… whatever it was she'd done, Tori had been the fastest to recover.

When she spoke, her commanding tone had returned. "I suppose you all know to keep what Argo just did a secret."

Everyone nodded silently. Argo straightened a little.

"Ah," Eugene started, "Can we get an explanation?"

Argo looked up again. "Do you mean what I did, or why the crusade failed?"

Eugene took a moment too long to respond, so Asuna filled the silence. "Both. First, about what you did."

"I'd like to hear that, too," Tori said. Everyone looked to her; she'd been the one to ask Argo to do that. "I didn't know what Argo did, just that she could do _something_."

Argo was silent for a moment. "Just so we're clear, no one else is to hear about this."

The party nodded.

"I'm one of the «Saints». I have no idea how I did what I did, but it has to do with how the saints are themed. Apparently, my theme is fear."

Everyone waited expectantly for more, but Argo just said, "I actually don't know an awful lot more than you. The «Saints» were just picked to be someone else's tools for control."

It was clear Argo didn't have anything else to say on the subject, so Asuna asked, "What about the crusade, then?"

Argo brought her hand to her forehead. Asuna couldn't tell if it was for dramatic effect or if she honestly thought that way.

"It starts with what position Mortimer was in. He had too much to do, and too little resources. There were about six hundred boars, with the possibility of more, and he only had seventy-two players, plus himself. The optimal weapons in this scenario were spears and bows, but most people have swords. Players aren't disciplined soldiers; they would rout after only about ten or fifteen losses. Essentially, there was no way to win. Were any of you watching the raid-wide messages?"

Everyone shook their heads; there had been too much to focus on to read every word intended for others.

"Well, he did a lot of micromanaging, particularly in trying to get the northeast horde wester. He knew it was going to fail from the start."

"Then why'd he do anything?" Asuna asked.

"His goal was never to stop the boars. Think about the reason why we had to fight. The players needed resources, a place to stay, and a leader. Irae asked about out-of-city contact to see if Mortimer could get reinforcements and resources from outside the city brought here. We can still communicate with him from here, and now a future campaign can be reinforced from both sides. He also has fewer players to house, even if the number is small. His appearance as a capable leader was damaged, but that was countered somewhat by the way the boars had to reveal their tactics."

"The extra boars were the reason we failed. Why is that a success?"

"He revealed that the boars don't act like we're still in a game. The NPCs already gave that away, but Mortimer would have a tough time proving the same was true of the boars. Unexpected behaviour also diverts blame away from himself and to the people that provided information; namely, me and beta testers."

"Wait!" Eugene exclaimed. "You mean he took in Kibaou because he was going to support Kibaou's points?"

"Kibaou is a smart but aggressive man who is ambitious. Mortimer likely explained some parts of his plan, intending to gain Kibaou some credibility he could use to form the next crusade. With some kind of public reconciliation between them, Mortimer vilifies some beta testers and gains Kibaou's supporters. But his more moderate stance could then attract more beta testers looking for some kind of redemption. Then, he could attract more followers by turning everyone in the forest into some kind of secondary objective. From a game design standpoint, his campaign might seem more manageable, and therefore could attract more people. This crusade had purely been preparation for the next. He wasn't just the general, he was also the presidential candidate."

Eugene hugged his head. "You know, I wouldn't have put this kind of plan past my brother, but isn't this a going little far…?"

Argo kept talking. "His merits are that he's smart and capable, but he doesn't value the individual enough. He's a good leader for consolidating a leadership position, but we're going to have to watch him carefully in the future."

"That's what I've been thinking my whole life!" Eugene exclaimed.

Argo chuckled. "The only part of Irae's rant I couldn't get was the bit about the red-head. Why is she important?"

As if summoned by the use of his name, Irae appeared from the direction of the plain. The red-haired girl in question followed behind him silently.

He spoke slowly, "She's the reason I joined this whole misadventure, and the reason we all have to get back into the city within three hours."

* * *

 **A/N:** Mortimer uses a hyphen in place of an en dash. The en dash is hard to get on a lot of keyboards.

There were two big issues in writing this chapter. The first was naming. With all the different perspectives I'm writing, it gets confusing to keep track of who calls whom what. Argo vs. «The Rat», Kouichirou vs. Inkling, boar stampedes vs. hordes, etc. I've tried to ensure that naming makes sense in the context of what character is talking, but if a character's name for someone else changes, it's just to conform to inter-perspective standard. For Argo, Eugene introduced her that way last chapter, allowing me to adopt the standard.

The other issue is focal characters (POV characters). This chapter felt odd to write from Asuna's perspective, as she is a rather quiet character surrounded by characters like Irae, Tori, and Argo. More of a Watson than a Holmes. What I tried to bring out was a bit of simplification of strategy, a more reflective perspective, as well as to draw attention to some conflicts that may seem minor to other characters, like Asuna's sword. I'm rather bad at writing action, and using Asuna's focalization, I can shift the focus away from that slightly. I can also play with framing—look at the first line, and then compare with the conversation at the end of the chapter. However, Asuna's character is developing more slowly than I imagined, but it should surge ahead in a few chapters.

I also refer to parties by their leader's name. Tell me if that seems wrong or confusing.


	16. Chapter 15

You really should have gotten some sleep.

Irae gritted his teeth. He couldn't sleep. Sure, his mind needed rest, what about his body? In the real world, his body slept with his mind, but he wasn't so sure about that here. Leaving his body rested, but managed by anything other than himself was not something he could allow.

He wasn't going to last. Irae's initial estimate was that he had three days to work with. He was already on day two.

Hence the continuous action. Hence the paranoia. Hence the unstable relations, the networks built for speed rather than stability. It was only today, however, that he realized just how unstable his foundations were.

It all started with that girl. After leaving Argo with Tori, this girl had come out of the crowd to ask Irae to join her party.

As soon as Irae saw her, he bolted. The crowd still hadn't settled, allowing him the chance to slip between people like a swimmer between the waves.

Perhaps it would be better to listen to her, no?

These snide comments in Irae's mind were beginning to become too much for him. He knew that if he recognized them, he would be taking another rung down the latter of insanity. However, it couldn't be denied that those comments had helped him in the past.

She was the one to leave the alley just before the chat with Argo. She knows something, or has some goal.

Wouldn't it be better to investigate?

Irae didn't have much of a plan to spend his time. He knew the "crusade" as it was being called would end in some sort of failure; he left Argo with Tori simply so that they would have to work together. They would be able to manage whatever failure Mortimer engineered. However, that left Irae without any truly trustworthy allies in the city, no information, and an impossibly large task.

Perhaps investigation would be useful. He would have a manageable goal, at least. Plus he could experiment to see if combat could improve his physical abilities as if they were in a game.

Irae slowed down a little, adjusting his course through the sea of people. The girl caught him quickly; she'd kept up better than he had expected.

She gave a smile. "You didn't have to run away, you know."

Irae smiled himself, feigning awkwardness. "I'm not good with people. I didn't know how to react."

The girl laughed. "I'm Estelle."

"Irae."

See how she holds herself?

Irae's fingers twitched into their fists almost reflexively now.

Estelle was a young girl, in her mid-teens. Her skin was a shade darker than most of the other people in the crowd, which contrasted oddly with her vibrant red hair. Perhaps the oddest contrast, however, was between the fluid way she had followed after Irae and the stiff, soldier-like way she stood now.

Another person came out of the crowd, panting.

"There was no need to run off like that," he said. "If he doesn't want to join, then just leave him be."

Irae shook his head. "No, I'll join."

The man stood up a little, surprised. "Odd way of thinking it through. I'm Ghrelin."

Ghrelin: the hunger hormone.

He holds himself like a university student. Observe the tired yet curious look. He's the right age as well.

Overall, not a threat. Perhaps a somewhat useful ally.

Irae ignored the information streaming through his head. If his condition got any worse, he would end up a better judge of character than Tori. For more overburdened, though.

"Irae. I'm just not good with people, that's all."

Ghrelin moved his hand as if to adjust glasses, before apparently realizing they weren't there. Irae laughed a little.

Two other party members soon followed out of the crowd. They introduced themselves as ToTheWire and Gear. They were approximately the same age, about thirty, and seemed very close, but they claimed to have first met yesterday.

Before Mortimer began his explanation, another player came to join their party. A young teenager calling himself Kushani. Irae really had to suppress his laughter on hearing that name.

Mortimer began his speech soon after. Irae took some time to think.

At first, he concerned himself with trying to piece together any information he had on Estelle. He suspected she wasn't a player; she didn't look Japanese to begin with, and her appearance was more similar to Alexis than to anyone he'd seen in their world. When he or Kushani joined the party, no one sent party invites, possibly because everyone here was so unfamiliar with the game they didn't know how. Irae had tried to add Alexis to a party this morning and found himself unable to; natives could only interact with trade windows or maps. This meant that Estelle hadn't proven herself to be a player yet.

There's also the way she walks. Every player stumbles or trips on an uneven cobble occasionally; she walks naturally on them.

Oh? Something interesting is happening on the stage.

A man stepped on Mortimer's makeshift stand before Mortimer could begin explaining his plan. New ideas sprang into Irae's mind as he watched the dialogue between them, and the following appointment of Kibaou to second-in-command.

Irae's mind switched tracks.

This crusade would end in some failure of Mortimer's engineering. People would die. Would Mortimer plan out who would die? Kibaou was a possibility, but there was also a chance that Mortimer saw Irae as a political competitor. Irae had, after all, made clear his understanding of the political significance of the crusade.

As always, doubt crystallizes and the hand is stilled by a lack of information.

It took some restraint to keep from snapping back. It was always joked that if the first stage of insanity was hearing voices, the second was to respond. Irae would hold onto the whatever sanity he had for at least another day.

Mortimer's plan raised more red flags, though. Irae wasn't sure if Mortimer was aware of the implications of his strategy, or if he was just that good at disguising his intentions behind a veil of the ordinary.

However, the end of Mortimer's explanation came with a problem. Party names and assignments were being made, and they didn't have a party. Would it be a good idea to reveal to the rest of the party that Estelle wasn't a player? Was she a player?

The first check was if Estelle was a player. Irae tried sending some party invites, and sure enough, he couldn't send one to the girl. It would be too much to simply ask the rest of the party not to notice Estelle's absence from the party roster, so Irae addressed it immediately. He gave Estelle a questioning look, somewhat more exaggerated than his normal expressions.

"What?" she asked.

"Problem with the menu or something?" Irae gestured to his menu clearly while subtly indicating the proper response with a slight nod.

Estelle's eyes narrowed in suspicion ever so slightly, as she responded, "Yes."

"Really? Let me send it again." Irae made sure everyone saw what was happening.

Estelle shook her head again. "Still not working."

"I guess I'll have to relay information verbally."

Ghrelin adjusted his nonexistent glasses again. "I didn't even know that window could get bugged. It's just a yes or no option."

Irae shrugged, avoiding the question, with a, "Even with everything that went down yesterday, it's still day two after release," and led them to get an assignment. Ghrelin's thoughts seemed to turn elsewhere shortly after, and the other party members weren't that bothered with it. The hurdle was cleared.

Almost immediately after their party had received their name and assignment, Irae slipped away from his party to get to Tori's party unnoticed.

Such a single-track mind; wasn't the reason you stayed for the crusade to investigate the girl? Now you leave her alone to pursue the more dramatic of mysteries.

This great mind of yours falls victim more easily to a big lie than a small one.

Irae ignored the criticisms that technically came from himself. He quickly rushed to Tori's party.

Even if Tori acted like she hated Irae, he knew her anger was already weakening. At this point, her antipathy was more for protecting everyone around her than due to any actual anger. Irae guessed, correctly, that she would know when to set that aside, much to the surprise of everyone else in Tori's party.

"I need your thoughts on Mortimer, Kibaou, and that girl." Irae pointed Estelle out, distant in the crowd. "Hurry."

"You know that takes time," Tori complained. A complaint was her normal acknowledgement, at least when Irae knew her. "Mortimer is a smart man, or at least he thinks that. Directed, purposeful; his plan seems to have another layer to it, but I don't know what that is. His real thoughts are guarded, and he tries to mislead anyone who looks at him. People skills are more clinical than social."

Tori's analysis wasn't extremely useful, doing little more than confirming some of Irae's suspicions. Her review of Mortimer wasn't entirely positive; Eugene probably wouldn't comment on something like that.

She was already on to the next person. "Kibaou is aggressive and confrontational, but he's not an idiot. His earlier display was likely due to some ambition—power or publicity, same thing. Easy to manipulate in that regard. Mortimer seemed to notice that, at least a little."

Irae wasn't sure if this should worry him or calm him down. If Kibaou was being taken under Mortimer's wing, whether by his own free will or not, that meant Mortimer found ways of using opponents without killing them. However, as he hadn't approached Irae, this could be a bad sign; no movement toward influence meant no potential for use, and potentially disposal. However, it could also have just meant Mortimer didn't see Irae as a rival.

It was probably best to keep his guard up.

Another point raised by the cacophony in Irae's mind was that Mortimer could be trying to maneuver players outside the city. For that, it would be useful, perhaps essential to already have people there. Plus, if Mortimer aimed to get a group of players to the other side of the plain, then it wouldn't make sense to eliminate possible on-site leaders. If the plan was viable, Irae would be safer.

Hence, Irae asked Eugene if Mortimer had any contacts outside the city.

"Well…" Eugene seemed somewhat uncomfortable discussing his brother. "I introduced him to a few this morning before the opening ceremony, but not a lot. He has direct contact with less than a dozen, though they might be able to contact a few others outside the city."

Even if Mortimer doesn't plan to kill you in particular, people are still going to die.

Is it not preferable to remain alert regardless of any feeling of safety or paranoia?

Irae hated to admit that was true. He couldn't be absolutely sure of Mortimer's intentions until more moves played out. Until then, Irae just had to prepare for anything.

The last important thing was Estelle. "Tori, last person."

Tori complained again, but she eventually responded, "From what I can see, she's a liar. I don't know about what, but she's hiding a lot. She seems… adept at fighting? She's trying to look like she's looking for you in the crowd, but she's already spotted you."

Damn. Irae had to get back. He thanked Tori, even though her explanations hadn't explained nearly enough for Irae to reach any conclusions. Perhaps she hadn't been using her ability as often in the years since Irae had last seen her. She definitely hadn't been putting her thoughts into words.

"Where did you go?" Ghrelin asked as soon as Irae returned. He now held a long spear, about one and a half times his height, probably assembled from a few shorter pieces.

"I spotted a few friends, wanted to have a word," Irae said, taking up his friendlier, more casual persona. "Anything happen here?"

"I'm convinced that Kushani is an idiot, he's been trying to juggle his sword. I tried to get him to stop, but it was only after he cut his hand outside the safe zone that he did."

"He okay?"

"He only nicked his finger, it's nothing much. It's not like infection's a thing here."

Irae nodded.

Might want to investigate that point about infection later.

Ghrelin moved to push up his glasses again. He looked a little confused to find them absent from his face.

"Actually, there's one other thing." He moved closer to Irae, switching to a whisper. "What do you know about Estelle?"

Irae was a little surprised. Ghrelin was evidently a good thinker; perhaps he could make a useful ally.

"I just met her in that crowd."

Ghrelin frowned. If he still wore glasses, they probably would have slid down his nose a little.

"I don't believe that, considering how you covered for her not joining the party. Why?" he asked.

"I don't know, I just guessed what was wrong," Irae continued to feign ignorance. "Didn't think I guessed right."

"Well, she's hiding something. I think…" Ghrelin paused and glanced around. "I think she's one of the «Saints». She didn't want to join the party because she her health won't go down in battle, and she doesn't want us to know."

A reasonable conclusion, when you think about it. Not everyone has realized the state of the NPCs yet, and this is the next most likely conclusion.

It could be said that he reached this conclusion through abduction, and the idea has abducted him in turn.

Irae kept a straight face and asked seriously, "Are you sure?"

"Just, keep an eye out. We don't know if she's really trying to help or not. You just seem to be the most trustworthy person here."

Ghrelin moved to check on Kushani's hand again while Irae stood there.

Guilty that you fooled another person into trusting you?

Shut up, Irae responded.

So he descended another rung in the ladder of sanity.

His hands were curled so tightly blood began to drip from his palms.

Mortimer spoke.

Estelle looked into Irae's eyes.

She smiled.

The campaign began.

Seems we lost at something.

Would that be a royal 'we?'

Irae swallowed with some difficulty and ordered his party forward.

The next few minutes passed by with him in a sort of daze. Their party was one of the first DPS groups to reach the boars, thanks to Kushani running ahead while Irae was too dazed to stop him. Almost immediately, they were ordered to follow Tank Group 3 as they dragged a boar horde to the northeast.

Northeast. Bordered only by the river and more plain. No escape there.

Doubt began to creep back into Irae's thoughts. This group was going to be the one with Mortimer's failure. The people in his party would die.

After reaching their position, they began the standard DPS routine; ToTheWire and Gear shot at boars while everyone else took up defensive positions to finish the boars. Irae had already made a cord-knife like the one he had used to escape the office, but he chose not to use it. His sword was plenty to fight, and it disguised his ability from those around him.

Funny how naturally you lie about your own ability.

Ghrelin was a spear-user. It made sense; spears were better than swords in large-scale army combat, and against mobile enemies like the boars. Ghrelin only had to get in the boar's path and plant the spear's base in the ground with the pointy end forward. Sometimes, the boars ran straight into it. Sometimes, they ran around and were cleaned up by Kushani's shortsword.

Kushani was the handyman; he quickly moved to clear up any boars that slipped past the others. Irae let a few pass intentionally so that he wouldn't give away any information on effectiveness to Estelle, and he had a feeling she was doing the same. Plus, it would probably be somewhat boring for the kid if no one ever let anything through.

Estelle seemed to use some combination of two different styles; when she stood still, she seemed a statue, and any movement was mechanical and precise. But when she dodged or moved, it was like a dancer, her dagger following a graceful arc to bury itself in a boar's eye or flank before being pulled out in one fluid motion. She was doing a far worse job than Irae hiding her combat ability, enough for Ghrelin to pick up on it.

Irae fought with one eye on the message board. The voices in his head, ever more riotous since his first response to them, recited the words and gave him a detailed analysis of motives and possibilities for each message in a clamor of thoughts.

Occasionally, Irae would have to move the party around as the tank party shuffled the boars around. Even then, the party got a lot of kills, faster than any other party in the sector. Perhaps it was because theirs was the only party with six people, but they had other factors in their favour. The party's melee fighters were capable enough to keep up with two archers pulling aggro. Everyone was already working together, Kushani in particular quickly building a strong intuition for the others' skills. He was moving to catch Irae's missed boars even before Irae had decided to let them go. Ghrelin also had a long spear, which was better suited for taking down the larger boars.

It was the most boringly perfect party, yet Irae was still sure most of them would die. Maybe he would try to save Ghrelin or Kushani if he could; they were skilled in more than just fighting. That would be if he had the opportunity.

Irae was almost relieved when he saw the tank group fall. Now the voices would shut up about contingencies.

Even before the first panicked message appeared in his window, he'd already ordered ToTheWire and Gear to stop pulling aggro, and the whole party was retreating in seconds.

The boars rushed past, southward, trampling a few members of the tank group. Irae ignored the dead, instead simply waiting for an opening for them to begin heading West.

Why West? Because the forest was slightly closer, plus their boar horde was heading south. Looking at the message window, it seemed the western horde had broken off and was also heading south. He'd made the right judgement.

The surge of boars trickled to an end, and Irae immediately urged them onward. They adopted a light jog as they ran, something fast but sustainable with their somewhat bulky equipment. Kushani was helping Ghrelin carry his still-assembled spear at the rear of the party.

"What's wrong?"

It took Irae a moment to realize that last comment didn't come from his own mind. "What is?" he asked plainly to Estelle jogging alongside him.

"You've been… vave hich, vaco hich, we call it. In and out, of control and truth." Estelle's words carried the slightest hints of an accent, but Irae couldn't identify what it resembled.

Their party had spread out a little in the plain, with almost a dozen meters between each pair of players. It was safe for Irae to speak with Estelle.

"You haven't been entirely truthful yourself."

Estelle's eyes narrowed slightly, almost imperceptibly. "Why did you help me out with the window problem?"

"I could hardly figure out what you were after if you were chased away. Here, you can't get away."

"I'm running faster than you."

"Because I'm not trying to outrun you."

"You fought poorly."

"Because I wasn't trying to outfight them."

"You knew this would happen?"

"It was obvious."

Regular reminder for a surroundings check.

Irae stopped talking for a moment to look around the plain again. The western horde had already made it completely South of them, and their original horde was heading North again behind them. They formed two lines that together covered their southern and eastern sides.

Behind him, Irae saw that Ghrelin and Kushani were falling farther behind.

Irae called out to them, "If you can't fold it up or whatnot, ditch it!"

Ghrelin nodded and began folding.

"So," Irae said to Estelle again. "Now that I've gone to the trouble of dragging you out here, I don't suppose you could tell me why you went after me."

Estelle smiled. It was an odd blend of childish victory and cold vindictiveness.

"My goal was to drag you out of the city, where you couldn't interfere."

That was when tragedy struck.

The pounding of hooves on dirt created a rumble in the to their right. The boar horde behind them looped around their northern flank and began bearing south. In a few moments, they were going to be encircled. Kushani and Ghrelin were still lagging behind, having had to slow down to fold the spear. ToTheWire and Gear seemed somewhat worn; they hadn't held the run as well as everyone else had.

Irae looked forward again. Then he looked to Estelle.

"We could make it out if we left the others behind."

Good choice. Staying behind leaves very little chance to get anyone else out, especially not the valuable ones in the back.

The fight would be difficult.

Irae wasn't sure if it was a good thing that he agreed wholeheartedly with these assessments. Something in Estelle's eyes made him stop, though.

Losing any more time would be inadvisable.

Then, one more voice joined the chorus, different from the others.

Do you remember last night's assassination? That wasn't the only boy who had a father.

This comment gave Irae pause. This internal exchange had lasted less than a second, but the pause lasted two.

Then, he said, "We're going to try getting everyone out of this."

Estelle's expression was a mystery. Was it disappointment in the inefficiencies of Irae's decision? A piercing glare at the perpetual chaotic exchange in Irae's mind? Or perhaps some form of re-examination?

Irae slowed his pace a little, letting the others close the gap that had formed between them.

In the next few moments, Irae saw the boars loop around their location ahead of them, arcing south to join with the back of the other horde. Together, the two hordes formed a spinning ring that began to contract and thicken around the parties trapped within.

The western edge of the ring was close; Gear's shortbow would be able to land an arrow in there, never mind ToTheWire's much better composite bow. The party now faced a wall of thundering animals, a wall that steadily drew closer even as their jog ground to a halt.

"Any ideas?" Irae asked.

Only the sound of hooves was heard. They seemed to pound out even the voices in Irae's mind.

"Could we try going over them?" Kushani asked. "Hop on their backs or something?"

Everyone shook their heads.

Now the decision to stay behind confirms itself as the mistake it was.

Irae dropped the friendlier facade he'd worn when speaking with the party before. "First, if we retreat to the center, we merely surround ourselves with a thicker ring of boars. That's not an option. Similarly, finding other parties to help will take too long. We have to go through now or never, and it's going to be a hellish fight. Some of us are going to die."

You mean everyone is going to die.

"Ghrelin, don't even bother with your spear, it's too big to use in that mess. We move, and we move fast. Ready?"

Four nervous faces stared at him. Kushani was the only one to nod.

Irae turned around and began to run. He reached his top speed, and entered the horde.

The ground shook from the mass of all the boars, but there was ground. The boars weren't pressed together; there was around a meter between them. Still, Irae couldn't see more than a few meters away, and the boars moved startlingly quickly, making this like wandering out on the highway.

In that moment, Irae had total control of his mind. He saw a boar charge at him, with only two meters' warning, and slid sideways, getting only a nick from the boar's tusk tip.

His cord-knife was out of his pocket. A boar aiming for him crumpled, the knife already being tugged from its eye socket. Before the body had even slid to a halt, Irae stepped up and used it to grab a quick glance at the oncoming boars before diving back into the horde.

The next three dodges were whimsical, the twists and turns those of a dancer. Then the boars shifted their positions and he was blind again.

Irae had made some progress; the boars were larger here. A grey boar twice as tall as him appeared over the backs of the onrushing charge. In two seconds, it was on him. Irae dropped to the ground, praying a hoof wouldn't crush his head. The sky disappeared for a moment, replaced by the grey fur of the beast, before flashing back into view. Irae was already flinging himself back to his feet.

The next grey boar thundered by behind Irae; he was more concerned with the smaller ones that still raced toward him.

A tusk took his leg out from under him. Irae's feet flew over his head. In the last moment of sight he had, he threw his knife into the current. The ground hit hard. Irae pushed himself up quickly. Looking back, he saw another grey boar lying on the ground, his knife lodged in its ankle. The other boars flowed around it, like a river around a boulder, giving Irae a moment to recover.

Irae pushed himself up, taking a few deep breaths before jumping back in the flow of boars. He was almost out; the boars were getting smaller again, and a few were wounded from previous skirmishes. The boars were moving more slowly, a few merely limping along. Dodging became less of a split-second response and more something that could be planned for.

This calmer flow wouldn't last, however. A squeal pierced the air, and a dying white boar charged past Irae. It would have hit him if he'd been even one step slower. Another shriek sounded, then another, and suddenly a cluster of white boars began charging over their black allies, shooting toward Irae. His knife shot into the eye of the leading one, shielding Irae from the charge of the rest. The rest charged harmlessly around.

Irae came close to the felled boar; it was a safe place, at least for now.

The apparent cause of those boars' behaviour made itself known through sound first. A deep boom shook the air, followed by another, and another, forming a rhythm. More boars let out desperate shrieks, running into each other, or charging past in groups.

A stench filled the air. Irae's nose was already clogged with the smells of sweat, blood, upturned dirt, and pig, but this new smell began to overpower them all. A stinging, acidic smell pierced Irae's nose. His eyes began to water.

The rhythmic thundering grew louder. Irae didn't have much time. Hardly paying any attention to the small boars around him, Irae darted out of his cover and wove through the remaining boars. He glanced back as the cause of that sound and smell ran past. What he saw was the flank of a boar, about the same height as the grey ones, but coated in an oily rust that sprayed behind it. The boar looked as if bathed in blood which arced up like fire.

Irae looked back ahead of him to find himself on a collision course with a boar. He stopped, almost falling over, but avoided a with it. Instead, a different boar charged out from the side, knocking him down.

The ground hit Irae's back, knocking the air from his lungs. He expected to be run over by another boar for his error, but instead… nothing.

He took a moment. Sitting up, he saw that was the last boar this far out. The line had receded a few meters behind him, and none of the boars seemed willing to charge even a little farther out.

A flash of crimson caught his eye. Looking to his right, where the boars were running from, Estelle danced out from between two boars and stopped. She looked around and spotted Irae, lying on the ground a few meters away.

"I don't see how your decision to wait helped in any way," she said as she walked closer. "They're all dead."

Irae winced as he got on his feet. His body was already beginning to bruise, but it was nothing debilitating. Considering how deadly that had been, he'd have to admit he was very lucky.

"Are you sure?" Irae asked.

Estelle shrugged. She didn't seem to care. Irae had thought her unguarded before, but now realized that her indifference was her shield.

Looking west, Irae saw the forest wasn't that far away; they could reach it with just five minutes' light jog. Behind him, the line of boars was retreating eastward, revealing the bodies of fallen boars.

"Before we go, perhaps we should take a look. Just to be sure," Irae said.

Estelle gave him an odd look, then turned toward the boars.

A few boars were collapsed in the ground along the lines Irae and Estelle had taken. Tracing them back, Irae found Kushani's body first. The teenager was pounded to a pulp; his face was hardly recognizable, and his legs were not remotely straight. As best as Irae could guess, he had probably died quickly, with a hoof to the face killing him almost before his brain could process it. Irae rolled his body over, pilfering the shortsword and a small pile of coins that materialized upon a player's death.

So the philosophy of 'waste not want not' trumps the rights of the dead?

It's not like he was going to use it anymore anyway. Unless he was Greek and needed a coin to pay Charon.

Irae had almost hoped the voices would abate after the stressful experience of boar dodging. He dropped a coin in a chasm that might have once been Kushani's mouth, and moved on.

Estelle watched all this from a distance without comment.

A shuddering breath brought Irae to the next party member. Ghrelin. He was still alive, barely, next to the big grey boar Irae had felled and hidden behind. He'd been gored by a tusk just before stumbling behind the cover Irae had left behind. The wound was bad; blood stained his starting gear and stained the fur of the boar he lay on. It didn't look good, but Irae had a healing potion purchased this morning. There was hope.

Irae rushed forward.

"Irae?" Ghrelin gasped, his voice weak. "You made it out?"

Irae nodded, opening his menu. "So did Estelle. Kushani's down, though."

"Estelle… you remember what I said?"

Estelle walked over. She grabbed Irae's arm, just as the potion materialized in it.

"Don't bother. He's too far gone."

Irae looked at her. "How can you be sure?"

"I used to watch the tests the alchemists put those potions through. You need a high priest to heal a wound that big."

Irae pulled his arm out of Estelle's hand. "It's still worth a shot."

Estelle looked at him. Then she looked to Ghrelin, hand clutching a hole that drained his blood on the ground.

"Sorry about this," she said calmly, before pulling out her dagger stabbing Ghrelin through the eye all in one fluid motion.

Irae's stomach lurched. He'd killed people before, but this was probably his first time watching someone else kill right in front of him. He looked at Estelle slowly.

"My job was to keep you out of the city but alive. A teammate is useful, but that potion wouldn't have saved him. More useful to save it for yourself."

Irae bit his lip. He could argue, but he'd had similar thoughts and made similar decisions before. Seeing someone else having crossed the same lines as him still reminded him that those lines were still there.

The two of them continued back. The last two bodies weren't far from each other. It seemed ToTheWire had gotten a little ahead of Gear and had tried to go back for him. Gear's body had caught on something and been around, but they still weren't far from each other. Their bows had both snapped under the pressure of a million hooves.

Irae ritually took their money and left a single coin of Cor in each of their mouths. Then, he looked to Estelle, that enigma that had gotten him involved in this whole mess, and they began to walk back to the forest.

We aren't so different.

Would that be a royal 'we?''

* * *

A/N: Apologies for the late chapter; I suppose it's becoming a bit of a pattern that I upload a day late when Sunday is some kind of holiday (yesterday was Mother's Day).

This chapter was an interesting write. I tried to write less directly, playing on Irae's waning sanity to give less description and make the exposition move faster. Then the action. I think I finally got action to work for me in the boar-run at the end. Then character development. It certainly helped that there were only two characters that were important in this chapter. Overall, tell me what you think about the different styles and focuses I tried in this chapter. I need to know this stuff.

I'm also somewhat happy with my names, they seem appropriately like game usernames. Kushani means sneeze; originally it was going to be IveBeenStuckMidSneezeSince8:30. Ghrelin is the hunger hormone, and the character stabs boars with a spear. Hunger stabs. Gear and ToTheWire are less interesting. If you have a character name you want to see, maybe send it to me. Possibly through reviews. You could also leave a real review while you're at it. Also mention if you're okay with me killing the character with that name off. Don't want to insult anyone by killing off their name-baby when they weren't ready for it.


	17. Chapter 16

"Why are we going _deeper_ into the forest again?" Lisbeth asked.

"Who knows how the minds of psychopaths work," Eugene sighed.

"Isn't psychopath a rather strong word?" Asuna asked. She was also worried Eugene might be heard; they were lagging behind the other members of the group, but not so far as to be inaudible.

Eugene shrugged. "You heard Irae describe how he got here. His entire party died, and he didn't seem to care. I'd say that's pretty psychopathic."

The red-haired girl, Estelle, looked back to them. Asuna shivered. Estelle scared her a lot more than Irae did. Her hair might conjure images of fire, but her glare was ice.

The trio at the back of the group was silent until Estelle looked away.

"And that one… She's like a watchdog," Eugene grumbled. "I mean, I could work with Irae, but not some mysterious teenager who seems to be out for blood."

"I don't know," Lisbeth said. "I'd say it's better to give people a chance."

"Yeah… Tori seemed pretty intimidating when I first met her," Asuna agreed. "To be honest, she still seems pretty intimidating."

Lisbeth laughed. "She's always been like that. Heh, one time, back when we were in the same middle school, she made a bow in woodworking class —a really strong composite one. For a few weeks, she was just known as that girl who carried a bow around, sticking out of her bag, whenever she walked through the halls. Some guys, trying to show how tough they were, stole it and tried to shoot it at the back of the school. They couldn't pull the string back at all. Tori found them, kicked out one guy's legs, took her bow back, and shot an arrow across their noses. I was watching this from the window, I swear I saw those guys piss their pants. She then got in huge trouble for shooting in the general direction of any of them, and the principal confiscated the bow."

Asuna laughed; that seemed the perfect package to describe Tori.

"Why'd she still carry the bow around if she could already fire it?" Eugene asked.

"She said it was so she could use it to test the arrows she was making at that point, but I'm pretty sure she just liked scaring everyone."

Was there anyone like that at Asuna's school? There was a lot of intimidation and passive bragging going on, but nothing violent like that. Girls would dress a certain way to show how much prettier they were, or would find ways to make _sure_ everyone knew they were the smart ones, but no one carried a knife around, at least not visibly. That school had been a girls-only, upper-class school rich parents would send their children to show off their own wealth. For them, though, all those displays were just for the purpose of bragging, or setting themselves apart. Was Tori doing that for the same reason?

"What about you, Asuna? What was your brother like?" Lisbeth asked. She must have heard Asuna talking with Tori about him this morning.

"He's… kind. And smart." Asuna began uncertainly, before blurting out everything that came to mind. "Well, first off I should say he's a lot older than me; he's already out of university and working. He did really well in school, and everyone thought he was nice, and hardworking. He wasn't that hardworking, though, he just _got_ things really quickly and didn't have to put in a lot of work. At home, he was always supporting me whenever he had the time, helping me with my homework and taking me out to go shopping or to fairs or anywhere that seemed fun."

"Hm… seems nice, but boring," Eugene said.

"That's mean," Lisbeth said.

Eugene defended himself, "Well with Mortimer, there was always something exciting going on. Usually not _good_ , but exciting. It's usually the older sibling that's the voice of reason, and the one laying down the rules and all that, but not with us. Mortimer was the guy who would constantly get in trouble shoplifting or whatnot, and I was normally the one left to lecture him. He was crazy good at whatever he set his mind to, though."

"Yeah, because this campaign is a great example of that," Lisbeth replied dryly. "Went perfectly."

Eugene opened his mouth, ready to argue Mortimer's case, but Lisbeth ignored him and asked Asuna, "By the way, are you okay?"

"Huh? I'm fine," Asuna replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I just thought, we're all talking about our siblings, but you're the only one with no idea where your brother is."

Asuna made a face. "I've been thinking about it. Kouichirou isn't someone that will just give up. I'm sure he can make it by himself. And I have all of you. While I'd like to see him, I'm not worried, just…"

Asuna realized she didn't know how she felt. Logically speaking, there was no cause for concern, but she was still worried about something.

"I can help you look for your brother after we get back," Argo said, suddenly dropping in on their conversation.

"Thanks," Asuna said somewhat uncomfortably. She hadn't noticed that Argo and the other party members who had been walking in front had slowed down and were listening in on their conversation **.**

Eugene took it all in stride. "Say, Argo, do you have a sibling? I never asked."

"No, I've been a lovely, demonic, only child my whole life."

"I suppose that's good; I'd pity the poor soul that would have to live under the same roof as you."

Argo spun around and walked backward so Eugene could see her smile. Mock bloodlust dripped from her eyes.

"What about you, Irae?" Eugene asked, somewhat uncomfortably.

Asuna expected Irae to brush the question aside, or ignore it entirely. However, he responded without turning around, "I have a younger brother. Haven't seen him in eight years."

"That's depressing."

"I had a troubled childhood. Left home at fifteen." Irae paused, organizing his thoughts. "I suppose my brother would be about fifteen now."

Eugene seemed keen on pushing the subject away. "What about you, Estelle?"

"I had three brothers."

"While that seems interesting, the use of the word ' _had'_ worries me. Do you mean what I think you mean or…?" Eugene trailed off when he saw Estelle's humourless expression.

"God dammit, Argo, where do you find such depressing people?! Do you know anyone with a remotely happy childhood?" Eugene cried in dismay.

Irae raised his hand suddenly to silence Eugene. He pointed to Argo.

"We're close," Argo whispered.

"How can you tell?" Eugene whispered back, suddenly serious.

Irae gestured for him to move forward a few paces. When Eugene complied, his hands flew to his face, plugging his nose. "Nasty. What is that?"

Asuna moved forward as well. A breeze blew through the widely-spaced trees, bringing with it a strange smell, a mix of rancid meat, lemons, and blood. Everyone around Asuna was making some face of disgust.

Actually, Argo seemed unaffected by the smell. In response to Eugene's questioning glare, she explained, "I have a sensitive nose; I've been smelling this for the last ten minutes. How do you think we got here?"

A ways off in the direction the breeze came from, the forest seemed brighter. It was tough to make out through the trees, but Asuna guessed there was a meadow there with something in it.

Irae moved toward it, pulling a knife out of his pocket and wrapping a cord around his hand. The rest of the party followed. The ground was mostly clear of underbrush, so their approach was a silent one. The smell worsened as they drew closer. Something red was in the clearing, at least twice as tall as a person. It wasn't moving.

Coming closer still, the red object revealed itself to be a boar—a colossal red giant like the one that had missed them just before they made it out of the boar horde. Its skin was a marbled, meaty texture covered in some unidentifiable red grime. Just its tusks were longer than Asuna was tall, and she was on the taller end of her class. The boar was collapsed, unmoving, in the center of the clearing, a red mountain dominating its own corner of the forest.

Some of their party members relaxed, but Irae remained cautious as he stepped closer. Then he stopped. He looked back to the rest of the party.

"If anything happens, try and stick together. Does everyone have at least two other people on their friends list?"

Everyone nodded except Estelle, but Irae didn't seem to mind. He continued advancing slowly, aiming to come out of the clearing behind the massive boar.

Everyone held their breath. The boar didn't seem to be alive, but the tension displayed by Irae put everyone on edge. The smell didn't help, either.

Irae stepped into the clearing first. The boar didn't react. Irae was followed by Estelle, the only person who still seemed relaxed. The boar didn't move, and remained that way as the rest of the party filtered in one by one.

"I think he's dead." Eugene broke the silence.

Irae glared at him, and Eugene's mouth snapped shut. Asuna didn't know what Irae was worried about; the boar's sides were still and there was no movement to indicate life.

A loud, playful voice resounded through the clearing. "It's not the boar he's worried about, my friends, but the one who killed it."

The voice came from on top of the boar. Standing there, where there had been nothing just moments before, was an incredibly tall man wearing comically baggy clothing. The sun's position behind him made it difficult to discern anything but his outline and the most basic contours of his appearance, but no colour.

"Who are you?" Tori asked irritatedly.

"The one who killed the boar, read the subtext." The man tilted his head, more exaggeratedly than someone just thinking over a response. "I suppose, if you were asking for a name, I would like to be called Glitch."

He ended his statement with another aggrandized motion, stretching his hands as far apart as he could before clapping them back together. In that position, standing tall, hands held palms together in front of him, the sun shining from behind him, he seemed a holy figure framed by the elements themselves.

"Now, to business. Two, while I very much appreciate your work _burrowing_ into the network of the players, Valse is already worried about your actions. Khmph, the simple man. I am here to convey his feelings toward your group, in my own special way." Glitch spoke rapidly and excitedly; Asuna was reminded of a cartoon scientist muttering about equations faster than anyone could follow.

"Wait!" Eugene shouted.

Glitch's head instantly snapped around to look at Eugene. "Yes?" he asked.

Eugene paused. "I don't know, I thought you were just about to do something bad and just said something."

"Yes, you might consider what I'm about to do bad, but it's all a matter of perspective, isn't it?"

Glitch's smile spread across his face. It seemed to radiate a green glow as it spread, like a tear, across his cheeks, splitting his face in half. Green flames shot out of the scar that was once his mouth, flicking toward his eyes.

"Did you know that, while the First Goddess Iliya is the goddess of death, the Third Goddess Phantazcia is more often associated with the undead?"

He chuckled crazily. Then, he vanished.

The boar shot to its feet. Then, like a glitch, it was instantly spun around without any in-between movement. Its front, now facing them, revealed itself to be a mangled mess, half of its head missing as if some massive creature had taken a bite out of it. Blood, bone, and bits of brain matter dripped from the hole, though its eyeball remained, floating in some of the fluid still puddling in the bottom of the cavity.

Without any preparatory motion or acceleration, it shot at them. Asuna felt a hand around her waist pull her to the side as the boar crashed into the trees.

Asuna quickly got to her feet. The party was scattered; they had all dodged to different sides. The boar had pulled another glitched instant-reversal and was already shooting toward Estelle. Now the boar wasn't charging directly at her, Asuna noticed the boar's legs were moving as if it was dashing backward, its hooves sliding forward, frictionless, across the ground as if the movement animations were backward.

Eugene, who had pulled Asuna out of the boar's path, was already rushing to Lisbeth.

Estelle elegantly danced out of the path of the boar's tusks, but was somehow still hit by what must have been some invisible extension. She was sent flying with far more force than seemed possible from a creature going that speed, and shot across the clearing to disappear into the trees across the clearing.

The boar suddenly changed direction, without turning. Though its hooves now moved as if running forward, it was now charging diagonally backward at Tori. In fractions of a second, its leg collided with Tori and—

—passed right through her.

"It's not actually where it looks like it is!" Argo cried out.

The boar went for Argo next. Somehow, she could tell where it was, dodging invisible air as the boar passed her by. Eugene, located three meters to the boar's side, was hit instead, though he wasn't knocked back, only pushed to the ground.

Irae was next. His knife shot from his hand like a bullet, jamming itself into a point of air just to the side of the boar's head. Its one good eye spewed out blood and a sound unlike any Asuna had ever heard shattered the air. It sounded like the collective screams of children on a roller coaster, played backward and heard underwater. The boar itself missed Irae, stopping just a few meters past him.

The boar pivoted on a hoof that was hovering twenty centimeters above the ground. Irae's knife was flung out of its place floating in the air. Irae pulled on the cord connecting his hand to the knife, but was instead himself pulled off his feet and across the clearing.

The boar now faced Asuna. It let out another of its strange sounds, its mouth opening wide to spray blood and brain tissue in front of it. Then, its entire body froze, its mouth locked open, the crimson spray suspended in front of it. It slid across the ground, hooves still somehow making a sound despite being disconnected from the ground.

In the split second before it hit her, Asuna pulled her sword up, its point directed straight into that horrible frozen squeal.

First, she felt a strong impact run through her arms. Then, unable to hold the sword away any longer, she felt her arms crumple and the hilt collide with her stomach. Next came weightlessness. Finally, darkness.

A voice sounded, faint and far away. "…to the ambulance…"

When Asuna next opened her eyes, she found herself staring at a cave ceiling. She was lying on a thin layer of dirt covering the cavern floor.

Sitting up, she looked around. The cavern was fairly large, about the size of a swimming pool. Light filtering up from a small hole in the ceiling five meters above reflected off a small pond in the center of the cavern. Many dark tunnel openings surrounded the edge of the main cavern, inviting the brave and the foolish to explore their depths.

"Awake?" Irae's voice uncharacteristically bright voice came from Asuna's right. He was sitting a few meters away, relaxing in between two bigger rocks.

"What happened?"

"The boar knocked us down here. You haven't been out long."

"Where's everyone else?"

"Only us and Estelle got knocked down here. The others found the opening and yelled down to us; they took down the boar, though basically everyone was injured. They're in no state to go anywhere—they can't get down and we can't get up. Can you stand?"

Asuna pushed herself to her feet. She felt a little battered, but her legs supported her weight. Her stomach burned where her sword hilt had hit it, though upon examination she found that it was just a nasty bruise. Nothing had been pierced. Looking around again, she couldn't see Estelle anywhere.

"I have your sword with me." Irae waved it around a little.

Asuna walked over to him. Approaching, she saw that he had not gotten off nearly as easily as her in terms of injuries. His arms and legs were covered in bruises, one of his fingers was swollen, and a massive red stain ran from just below his shoulder to his hip.

Irae must have noticed Asuna's horrified look. He smiled consolingly. "It's not as bad as it looks; just a small injury from when your sword landed. Didn't get very far; it was blocked by a rib."

Asuna gulped and took the proffered sword. It had felt off, unbalanced before, but now it truly felt awful. She held it like a stranger's sword, resting on her upturned palms, and found herself positioning her hands so as little skin came in contact with it as possible. Someone she knew, who had helped protect her and had stopped the boars this morning, had been injured by this sword. Should she really have it?

"You know, that's a really nice sword," Irae said. "Well balanced, sharp—I can attest to that—and pretty."

"The merchant said if I was just a little bit shorter, it wouldn't suit me. After the opening ceremony, I got a little bit shorter, and ever since it's felt unbalanced."

"People will say that to make people feel special. Merchants will say that to make you think their product is more valuable. The effectiveness of a sword won't be affected by how tall you are."

"This sword hurt you."

"I'm over it. It's going to be the bruises on my legs that slow me down and the broken pinky that stops me playing violin, but a shallow slice to my side won't be so bad."

Asuna still wasn't sure she could accept this sword. Yesterday, it had been the object to remind her that she could do anything here, she'd gotten it with her new friends, and she'd used it to discover the wonders of a new world. Now, it had lost its beauty and its effectiveness. It was just a piece of metal made for hurting people.

Irae sighed. "It seems you just don't want to fight anymore. You're probably thinking you're too weak, or wrong, or what have you."

Asuna flinched. "No," she said weakly. "I just… it feels… wrong."

"Confused?" Irae asked.

Asuna looked at him. Lying at her feet was a man, battered and bleeding, who was still sure of himself. He didn't complain, instead making sure others around him were okay.

"How do you do it?" she asked.

"Do what?"

Asuna hadn't realized she'd said that out loud. She faltered for a moment, before figuring out what she wanted to ask. "How do you keep going? How do you lead everyone without doubting yourself?"

"Oh, I doubt myself constantly." Irae's tone was uncharacteristically childish, as if he was feigning innocence.

"But you still keep going."

Irae took a deep breath, wincing a little as it stretched his wounds. "You're asking for confidence and for strength, is that it? Wondering how someone like me or Tori or Argo can lead people and make decisions even when all hope seems lost?"

Asuna looked back to her sword. It was true; Asuna had been sitting in the back, led around by others. She couldn't lead like Tori, and it bothered her that she couldn't do something to help Tori.

"First, confidence. All I can say is, it doesn't matter how confident you are, only how confident you seem. You can fool even yourself that way. I haven't been absolutely sure about a decision for years; I just think too much about what could go wrong. It's funny, actually, I learned everything I know about confidence from playing music."

"What?"

Irae smiled. "When I learned how to play jazz, people kept saying to me, 'if you hit a wrong note, you just have to hit it again a few times until people think it was intentional.'"

"You're telling me to make a mistake again just so I seem right?" Asuna asked.

"No, I—" For the first time, Irae seemed to have trouble communicating. The last remnants of the illusion that he was some indomitable otherworldly being disappeared. For the first time, Asuna could really see him as another person. A great person, but a person that she could learn from. He may have been scary, or immoral, but he was strong and confident. If Irae could be strong and confident, then so could Asuna.

"What I mean," Irae said, having gotten his thoughts together, "is that the music goes on. If you make a mistake, you just have to work with it. The song won't always go perfectly; your job is just to fool people into thinking it did."

Irae continued, "Everyone in our party was hiding insecurities. For a lot of people, those insecurities were worse than yours. Yet you look up to them, and distrust yourself. Why?"

"Because they can _do_ things. Tori got us out of that courtyard to a safe place to sleep, but all I could do was give up. Argo took one look at the boars and said, 'let's help those players that are in trouble.' All I could do was get dragged around. Even at home, it was always Kouichirou…"

As Asuna listed everything she didn't do, Irae began to stand up. It was a long process; first he planted his hand, then, biceps bulging, he pushed himself to a crouch. His eyebrows twitched, and his other hand shot to his side to press down on his injury. He took a few breaths, then extended his legs until he stood. He took one big, deep breath, his chest expanding noticeably, before slowly letting all that air out.

What was left at the end of this process was a man standing straight, tension gone from his shoulders, eyes showing no doubts. He seemed ready to spring into action. Irae wasn't particularly tall—Kouichirou was taller—but right now he seemed a bear that had just overcome its battle wounds and was now prepared to fight again.

"Tell me, who do you think would win if we fought right now?" Irae asked, interrupting Asuna's waning monologue.

Shocked, Asuna squeaked, "I can't fight."

"Why? You have a sword in your hands right now, and I'm barely on my legs."

"I don't know," Asuna stated.

"Push me over."

"What?" Asuna wasn't sure if she'd heard right.

"Push me over," Irae said again.

Confused, Asuna complied. She took her sword by the hilt with one hand, letting its point touch the ground. She put her other hand on Irae's chest, and gave a gentle push. She hadn't expect Irae to fall over from something so weak, but still, he tipped over and landed on the ground with a grunt.

"Why did you fall over?" Asuna asked.

"Did you think you'd fail? You convinced yourself the challenge was bigger than it was and gave up. Now you know it wasn't. Perhaps you should ask yourself if you've done that with any other challenges you've faced."

Asuna looked down to the sword at her side.

"Now, I could you give me a hand? I don't think I can get up on my own again," Irae said.

Asuna complied. He was heavy, but not as heavy as she'd expected.

Now on his feet, Irae shuffled forward a little. Asuna stepped aside to let him pass. His walk was awkward and slow, but he kept going, aiming for puddle in the center of the cavern. Asuna realized Estelle was there, though for how long she didn't know. The girl held her hand limply by her side; her fall here must have been almost as bad as Irae's.

"I know roughly where we are," Estelle said as Irae made his way toward her. "These tunnels can get us back inside the city."

"Didn't you say your job was to keep me out of the city?" Irae asked.

"Glitch's appearance was unexpected. Vander will want to hear about it, and soon."

"Well, isn't that convenient?" Irae laughed. "Somehow, our foray into the forest has yielded far better results than I could have expected."

Estelle made no indication she'd heard him. She spared a brief glance in Asuna's direction before beginning to hop along the uneven cavern floor, making her way to one of the tunnel entrances that lined the cavern edge.

Irae shuffled after her, then paused. He turned around, looking back to Asuna.

"Are you coming?" he asked.

Asuna hesitated; she wasn't sure why. She looked toward «Droplet» one last time before sheathing the sword and following after the the two people she'd only met today.

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, sorry for posting the second late chapter in a row. I've had exams these last couple of weeks, and though I hoped that wouldn't affect the upload schedule, it has.

Another thing you might notice is that this is Asuna's perspective, and we've had an Asuna chapter only two weeks ago. Really, I just wanted to get this whole Boar War sub-arc wrapped up soon so I can get back to the real shitshow that's about to go down in the city, plus I can get to developing Asuna. She's been pretty useless and undeveloped so far, but the last part of this chapter is going to be the start of big changes. Soon, I hope, we'll get to the outgoing badass of the show (possibly while Tori descends into madness or otherwise).

Now there's one more thing: I need feedback, and I'm not getting it. I break down story writing into five categories: character, plot, worldbuilding, theme, and language. I explain what I think about the chapter in Author's Notes so that you can tell me if I succeeded or failed in my main goals. That's not happening, and I need it to happen so I can make a better story. So tell me, is the plot confusing? Is the character development boring or unrealistic? Is the world poorly described, or does the description slow down the story too much? Do I have enough descriptive words or too many in, say, action segments? Do I switch tone too rapidly (sort of what I mean by theme)? Your comment can be as simple as a complaint that I use too many commas, or that I'm taking too long to get to backstories. I need to know if my experiments are successful, or they're not experiments at all.

Long author's note :P Last point: I'll start putting a date on these, DD/MM/YY:

16/5/16


	18. Chapter 17

The cave was made all the more ominous by the shadows dancing a pagan dance. With every step, Estelle threw her glowing rock and caught it the way a teenager would play with her car keys. The shadows plastered against the walls by that meager light swirled dizzyingly across Asuna's vision.

Accompanying the shadows' warped dance was equally warped music. The sound of footsteps, breathing, and discontinuous conversation, abrasive in the otherwise silent underground, echoed through the tunnels in a demonic melody.

Estelle led the way with her fluid walk, deftly avoiding any rock that littered the cave floor. Her breathing was even, unbothered by the world. Irae shuffled behind her, feet scraping against the ground and occasionally kicking a small rock aside. He had taken a health potion a while ago, and its effects were beginning to show in his increasingly steady pace. Behind her capable and tenacious companions, Asuna felt small. She worked to keep her footsteps silent and her breathing even despite the dizziness brought forth by the shadows, though she wasn't sure why. Perhaps it was a matter of subconscious pride.

Irae's voice often formed the melody to the alien underground music. "I don't suppose it would be too much to ask who Vander is?"

Every one of Irae's questions would be met with a long silence from Estelle. Eventually, the shadows would pause in their pagan ritual as Estelle held her light source in her hand. Then, she would provide the barest of responses.

"He is my lord."

Irae answered quickly. "I don't suppose you can say anything about his goals? His connections?"

Another pause. The shadows froze again.

"He cares for his city, and the city cares for him."

"I'm not so sure the city is so united as to support one individual. I'm guessing the Magicians' Guild, select nobles, and commoners from the poorer districts?"

Estelle didn't reply. Asuna no longer understood exactly what they were talking about, but she listened regardless. Anything was better to pay attention to than those dizzying shapes flitting across the walls. The cave floor was surprisingly level, not nearly treacherous enough to provide a suitable distraction.

Realizing he wouldn't get a reply, Irae said, "I hope you realize that I see your withholding information as the action of an enemy. I'm sure you're not here to anger me, so I would much rather you provide me some information. I merely want to know how Vander found out about me, and what he intends to do with me."

The shadows' dance halted for another moment.

"Chandra's agents were the first to discover the Count Palatine's death. Alexis was the one who revealed that you were involved."

"Alexis, huh?" Irae was silent for a moment. "I suppose taking over the city is not his ultimate goal?"

"No." Estelle spoke without a pause this time.

"Good to know. I don't suppose you could tell me what his ultimate goal really is?"

Estelle caught the glowing bauble again and stopped walking. "The next section is dangerous," she said.

Irae quickly glanced back to Asuna. "Holding up?"

Asuna nodded. It was odd that the most injured one in the group would ask the least injured that question, but Irae just seemed that kind of person. He was more similar to Tori than Asuna would have thought.

Ahead of Estelle was a steep drop into darkness. It seemed their tunnel intersected with the top of another. They only had one light source, which Estelle held out over the abyss. Two or three meters below was a loose pile of rocks not safe to jump down to. They would have to climb down on the uneven cave wall.

"Asuna, you first," Irae said. Estelle nodded in agreement.

"Why me?" Asuna asked; she'd been at the back of the group since they'd left the main cavern, and somehow she'd begun to feel that was where she belonged.

"Potions take a while to kick in. Estelle still only has one arm, and I can hardly use my legs. It's better to have the only uninjured person on the bottom to give support and catch us if we fall."

Asuna wasn't sure what good she'd do if Irae fell on her from three meters above, but it was true the climb would be easiest for her. The stone face she had to climb down had plenty of handholds, but many of them were too smooth or angled downward. Asuna sat down on the top of the wall, finding a ledge to stand on. Then she twisted herself around and began her climb.

The wall wasn't as treacherous as she expected. The most difficult part wasn't finding handholds, but rather working with the limited light coming from such a high angle. The further down Asuna climbed, the deeper the shadows in each fold she placed her hands. Luckily, the wall was short and this problem never became impossible to work around.

The tunnel Asuna found herself in now was larger. The blackness around her was no longer the narrow images of shadows, but an oppressive expanse that surrounded her completely. Small, jagged stones covered the whole cave floor, not just the area Asuna stood in now.

Estelle was the next to climb down. The meager light dimmed as she gripped her light-emitting bauble in her teeth and began her descent. Her arm had recovered somewhat thanks to Irae's potion, but not to the point where it could support her weight. Instead, she made a stunning display of speed and balance, her one able hand darting from handhold to handhold faster than Asuna could follow. For those brief moments, she was supported only by her legs. Even with her handicap, Estelle made it down in about as quickly as Asuna had.

Then, the light went out.

"Wha—"

The only response to Asuna's exclamation was Estelle's receding footsteps crunching in the stones.

Asuna was about to pursue them when Irae's calm voice stopped her.

"Stay calm. Asuna, tell me what happened."

"You don't sound surprised at all," Asuna muttered in surprise.

"I'm not. Now, take a deep breath and tell me what happened."

Everything had happened so quickly. "Estelle ran away with the light. As soon as she reached the ground, she was gone. I can't hear her anymore."

Irae was quiet.

"Irae?"

"I already found my first footholds, I just need some light."

"I just said Estelle ran away with the light."

"There's always a way, so long as you're clever enough to use the tools available to you. Can you still get to your menu?"

Asuna couldn't see her hand as she moved it through the air in front of her. Fortunately, the menu still came up, an iridescent white window in the black space around her. It didn't light up any of the cave, though.

The next thing to check would be the functions of the menu. «Main Menu» and «Friends» would be useless and «Maps» and «Communication» didn't work underground. That only left the «Inventory» tab.

When fighting in a party in Sword Art Online, item drops were placed in a party inventory. If anyone left the party, they would receive their fraction of all items in the party inventory, rounded down. Unallocated drops and rare drops were given to a player determined by a roll of the dice, though this could be changed to be managed by the party leader. This system was there to benefit players in support or healing roles; giving drops to whichever player dealt the finishing blow would leave support roles without items.

Collecting common drops from boars, such as meat and tusks, required looting corpses. Tori's party hadn't looted many corpses during the crusade; that was supposed to be done after the battle. Additionally, Tori had emptied the party inventory earlier that day to refill on money. This meant that the only items Asuna really had were her sword, clothes, and some money.

Asuna tapped the menu where it displayed her current money. A popdown menu appeared, giving the option to ｢Materialize｣. Asuna chose to materialize 10 Cor.

Glowing blue particles appeared in her hand, coalescing into a small metal coin. For about a second or so, the cave wall around her was illuminated with a soft blue light.

"That works," Irae said. "Is there any way to get that more consistent?"

"I'll check," Asuna replied.

As it turned out, there was a dedicated coin for 1, 5, 10, 50, and 100 Cor, each about the same size, but made from a different metal. Asking for those denominations would only summon one coin, and asking for a different amount would summon all coins at once. The advantage to summoning awkward amounts was that more coins meant more light. Stowing could be done by tapping her palm with her fingers twice. Asuna quickly settled into a routine of materializing and stowing 99 Cor. She didn't have enough for 199, so 99 provided the most light. The light was somewhat sporadic, but it was enough for Irae to eventually work his way down the cave wall.

Asuna felt relieved and a little bit clever to have gotten this far. "I suppose we follow Estelle now?" she asked.

"You know which way she went?" Irae asked.

"Yes." Asuna was nodding out of habit, even though Irae wouldn't be able to see her in the darkness.

"What you did was pretty clever, but we're going to need a more consistent source of light. Any ideas?"

Asuna's menu was still open in front of her. She quickly scanned through it; aside from a graphic depiction of her equipment, her experience bar, her empty inventory, and her wallet, there was one other category—skills. Asuna didn't know any skills, but there were still a few entries in this category, combat abilities she hadn't managed to activate yet.

"Do you know how to use" —Asuna confirmed the name of the section— "«Sword Arts»?"

"No; I just know they're a big selling point of the game."

Asuna selected a «Sword Art» from the list. A window appeared showing a silhouette holding a sword tip-forward, hilt beside the head.

«Droplet», the sword that had seen Asuna through so much and had felt so strange during the crusade, was still strapped to Asuna's hip. She drew it.

One thing that had surprised Asuna in the game was that drawing a sword didn't make much of a sound. That _shing_ sound she always heard in the movies was replaced by at most a slight slide. That was still enough for Irae to deduce what was going on and take a few steps back.

Asuna brought «Droplet» up beside her face. A bright silver light engulfed the blade, lighting the cave all around them. Asuna felt she was holding back an incredible power in her sword, as if her sword would explode with just the slightest provocation.

Irae was standing a few paces in front of her, and he quickly took a few steps out of the way. "Can you move like that?" he asked.

Asuna tried taking a step, but she lost control of her body. The silver light overpowered her eyes, and she was vaguely aware of her body moving faster than she ever could on her own. Then, the light disappeared.

Irae's voice came from behind her now. "I'll take that as a no. Where did you find that?"

"The «Inventory» menu, under skills. Pick a skill and copy the character's stance."

A few moments later, a blue glow illuminated the tunnel. Irae held a knife with a frown.

"This position is incredibly inefficient. I'm under the assumption that these skills were designed purely for style purposes. Idiots."

The light followed Irae's knife through a simple stabbing motion, then faded.

"I'm not sure this is all that useful," Asuna said.

"No, this is much better than summoning money. Let's see…"

A few moments later, the tunnel was illuminated with a new light, now a gentle purple. Asuna groaned as the light began to spin. Irae had activated a «Sword Art» by spinning his knife, attached to a length of rope, around his side. The dizzying effect of moving light wasn't as bad; the knife left a streak that essentially just meant Irae carried a big glowing ring on his side. After a few moments of experimentation, he found a way to take strides in time with the knife's rotation.

Lighting thus produced, the two began to make their way along the tunnel in the direction Estelle had escaped to.

For a few moments, the only sounds accompanying them were their own breathing and footsteps. Irae's eyes carefully scanned the tunnel walls, paying little attention to Asuna.

"So…" Asuna broke the silence. "You didn't seem that worried when Estelle ran away."

Irae smiled cynically. "It was obvious what would happen. Estelle told me her goal was to keep me safe, but outside the city. When she started leading us back, she said she had to report to someone. To meet both these goals, she left us somewhere safe and unleavable and went to make her report. In other words, she left as soon as we were somewhere we couldn't leave without light. Hence why I'm staring at the walls."

A few minutes ago, Asuna felt she was the clever one for discovering how to light their way, but now she realized she was walking beside a man who never stopped thinking.

Irae continued, "In conflict, the most important thing to know is motives. If I know what everyone wants, I know who is an ally and who is an enemy; I know how people are going to act. Estelle made the mistake of letting me know what her goals were, and from then on, I could predict everything."

"Was that why you were asking Estelle so many questions? Or when you went to Tori to ask about Mortimer and Kibaou?"

"If you're clever, and you know what someone wants, they're essentially in your pocket. 'Know the enemy and know yourself, and you will never have to fear one battle in a hundred.' That's why I was asking questions, though I didn't really learn as much as I would have liked."

Asuna was suddenly struck with fear. She asked cautiously, "Does that mean you can control me?"

Irae laughed. "No. Estelle's biggest mistake was her response to my question, 'who is Vander?' Her answer told me she was loyal, and would follow his orders. You're different; you don't have one goal that you hold above all others. The same goes for Mortimer or Kibaou. The most Mortimer can do is account for _most_ of Kibaou's goals, and hope Kibaou does as he wants. Besides, if I did anything, Tori would kill me."

"You talk about Tori like she's a friend, but she seems to hate you. What happened?" Asuna asked.

Irae was quiet for a while. When he did speak, it was reluctantly. "It was a long time ago. A friend of ours died. At the time, everyone blamed Tori. I… I didn't…" The glowing knife slowed in its spin and Irae was silent for a while as he stared at the ground.

"Irae?" Asuna asked.

Irae's voice completely changed, returning to the hard, distrusting tone he'd used before being pushed into the cave. "We're in the same place again."

"Huh?"

Irae looked to her. "I said we're in the same place again. I'm pretty sure I just saw our own footprints, though it's hard to tell in these pebbles. We've gone in a loop. Can you stay here for a few minutes while I try going around again to make sure?"

Irae didn't even wait for an answer before turning to leave.

"Wait! Is this because I asked about Tori?" Asuna called after him.

Irae looked back. "No. I'll be right back."

Before Asuna knew what was going on, Irae had disappeared around a curve in the tunnel, and darkness returned. Asuna tried waving her hand in front of her face, but she didn't see anything. It was as though the blackness had formed a solid surface that pressed into her eyes.

Asuna was suddenly aware of how cold it was. There wasn't any wind underground, but a wave of cold passed through her nevertheless. She brought her arms close.

Now she thought about it, this was the most alone she'd been since entering the game. She'd almost immediately run into Tori, and since then she was being taken care of. When she got separated, Irae was there to take care of her. Now he was gone, leaving Asuna standing totally alone in a dark, empty place.

Was that a good thing? Since noticing how much Tori had done for her, Asuna had wanted to be able to support herself, to help Tori the way Tori had helped her. Now, alone and helpless, Asuna realized how difficult it was simply to stand alone. Irae said she had to be confident, or at least capable of faking confidence. Could she do that now?

Asuna's thoughts were punctuated by the crunching of a foot on loose pebbles.

"Irae?" Asuna's eyes shot toward where the sound had come from. All she saw was black.

Another footstep sounded.

Asuna drew her sword and brought it up beside her face. A silver glow illuminated the blade once again, allowing her to see.

Slowly approaching her was a monstrous figure. A mummified face, withered and filled with holes, covered a skull like a mask. The figure's arms were just dried and withered muscles still clinging desperately to exposed bones. The monstrosity dragged itself forward on thin and unsteady legs similarly commanded by dried brown muscles.

Asuna's mind flew into a panic that lasted no more than a second. This was exactly what she'd just been thinking about. This was a low-level monster, judging by its appearance, speed, and lack of weapon. She could fight him. She was already in a stance to launch a «Sword Art» at him.

She did just that. It was almost too easy. Her legs moved on their own, launching her forward and striking the monster between its exposed ribs. The monster recoiled, stumbling back a step, but Asuna's attack had left her sword halfway back to the activation stance. Before the undead could recover, Asuna had already launched another attack, sending it back-first into a wall.

Asuna was already in position for a third attack, but she stopped itself. One of the monster's legs snapped, and it didn't try to stand back up. Instead, it looked up to the cave ceiling, reaching up with one of its hands, before freezing there. Its muscles must have stopped working, returning to some rigid, mummified state. A window appeared, notifying Asuna of her victory over a «Phantom's Messenger».

"Asuna?" Irae called from behind.

Asuna twisted and launched her «Sword Art» into the wall beside the monster. The silver light from the stance had blocked out the purple light of Irae's approach. Sure enough, he'd come around in a full loop of the tunnel.

"What happened?" Irae asked.

Asuna gestured to the fallen monster. "It came out of nowhere."

Irae approached for a closer look. Asuna stepped back; he was still swinging his knife around for light.

"What's it doing with its hand?" Irae asked.

"It reached up just before it died. Or, died again, I suppose." Asuna was a little uncomfortable with what she'd done for some reason. Perhaps it was because the monster's last actions weren't those she would expect from just any monster, they felt more like—

"It was reaching for an exit," Irae said, looking up to the ceiling.

Sure enough, there was a slight concavity in the tunnel ceiling just above the monster's remains. It was difficult to tell, but it seemed to be the end to another tunnel that intersected with the pebble-strewn ring.

"The wall's not too bad. You go first; I'll keep up the light," Irae said.

Asuna looked to the monster one more time. It was positioned such that stepping on its head served as a foothold in an area of the wall without one. Somehow, though, it felt _wrong_ to take advantage of it.

"Are you okay?" Irae's friendlier tone returned.

Asuna nodded and pushed herself up on the monster's shoulder, then began scaling the wall. This wall was an easier climb than the last one, perhaps because she was going up and could see more easily thanks to Irae's purple light.

Irae's ascent was actually more difficult for Asuna than her own. To provide enough light, she had to face toward the drop, holding back the «Sword Art» without activating. One wrong move, and she would lose control of her body until after she had fallen to the bottom again. It made her miss the safe meditation of summoning 99 Cor repeatedly.

When Irae was back up, Asuna carefully twisted around without activating the skill, and they continued down the tunnel. This one was smooth and had few rocks, similar to the tunnel Estelle had led them through. It made Asuna wonder why the ring-cave was the only one covered in small rocks.

"Where did the monster come from?" Irae asked.

"I didn't see."

"No, I mean, when Glitch reanimated the boar, the corpse was right there. We went around the entire ring; there were no other intersections, and those legs were too brittle to take a fall from an upper tunnel. Where did the corpse come from?"

The blood drained from Asuna's face. "You don't think, from under those pebbles…?"

"The cave wasn't naturally formed, judging by the ring shape. The city seems to be really old, and I don't think the temples had enough land to bury centuries' worth of dead."

The rest of their journey passed in relative silence. Asuna had just walked across a mass grave without realizing.

Somehow, she'd never had to deal with situations like this in the security of Tori's party. She'd never had to deal with the terrifying proposition of fighting in complete blackness, or of being abandoned in a place no one would ever find her.

Still, she felt somehow stronger for overcoming those challenges. Yesterday, she'd realized that a game was magnificent for letting her experience something she could never experience in real life. Now that process had continued even after she knew this wasn't a game any more.

Was that a good thing? Asuna didn't know.

As they walked, the ground beneath them became smoother. The tunnel met with a few others, but Irae kept walking in the same direction, paying them no mind. Eventually, their tunnel came to a narrow staircase carved straight from the stone. What must have been centuries of sporadic traffic had left it with steps more worn in the middle than the edges.

The stairway was too narrow for Irae to swing his knife around safely, so they had to fumble and trip their way up the stairs in total darkness, running their hands along the walls. When they reached the top, and Irae restarted the light, they found themselves in a cluttered old basement. The items scattered across the floor in crates and on old tables seemed random; barber's scissors sat beside candles, toy dolls, and half-carved blocks of wood. Asuna regarded everything with curious eyes as Irae led her to the other side of the small room, where a ladder offered a way back to the city proper.

The existence of the ladder seemed to be some kind of secret; it came up inside a crate, which in turn had a hidden opening. Outside, Asuna and Irae found themselves in a colossal warehouse. The crate they'd just come out of was just an innocuous member of a small stack in a corner.

"I know where we are," Irae said. "It's in the northwest of the city. A group of former game devs sheltered a bunch of players in another warehouse nearby last night."

"Wait," Asuna said. "Did you say 'game devs'?"

"What of it?"

"My brother—" Asuna caught herself. It would probably be best if no one knew her brother was game dev.

"It's fine, I won't tell anyone." Irae was already leading them out of the warehouse. "I don't think any of them are still here, but you might get lucky. Their plan was to relocate everyone to temples around the city for more permanent residence."

Asuna was elated. She didn't expect to have an opportunity to find her brother so soon after coming back from the city. Her arrival here and now was basically an accident. If she hadn't been knocked aside by that boar, and if Irae hadn't been so determined to get back, it would never have happened. She didn't have Tori's and Lisbeth's support here, but she was determined to stand on her own feet. This was the perfect chance to prove to herself and to everyone that she could take care of herself.

Irae took a moment to memorize which warehouse they'd just left, and Asuna did the same. It was the last in a row of similar warehouses, and was a little more run-down than its neighbours. The whole district seemed run-down, as if there had been some kind of economic crash a few years ago, and these huge storage spaces were left abandoned.

"Done?" Irae asked.

Asuna nodded.

Irae led them down the line of warehouses. The whole area was devoid of people, at least as far as Asuna could see. Irae paid little attention to his surroundings, fiddling with his menu.

"Good time?" Asuna joked. She'd originally thought Irae's goal of returning to the city in three hours ridiculous, but now she was a little curious as to how long they took.

"It took a little longer than I would have liked. It's just past four now."

"When did we leave?"

"The crusade left from the plaza around noon, and it was no later than twelve forty-five when I met your party in the forest."

"So you just slightly missed your goal?"

"These were the cards I was dealt. I'm just going to have to make do."

Irae brought Asuna to the warehouse on the other end of the row. This one looked different from the others, with signs of recent activity. Crates were stacked in the middle to form some kind of platform, and more crates were positioned along the walls to form makeshift rooms. However, there wasn't anyone here.

Before Asuna could scan through the whole warehouse, Irae stopped her.

"I've just looked through some messages. It looks like there won't be a second crusade until tomorrow, so your party won't be back. Is there anyone in the city you can trust?" Irae asked.

Asuna thought for a second. "There was a merchant I met yesterday."

"Do you know how to find him?"

Asuna thought back. Had the merchant said where he'd be? No, only that he'd 'be around.'

"No."

Irae sighed. "I suppose I'll get you to the Magicians' Guild. You might be able to find some information on your brother. Just don't tell anyone you were involved in the crusade, and don't say anything about me. Got it?"

Asuna nodded, following Irae through the twisting lanes of the city.

Irae's comment reminded Asuna that she could check her messages now that she was aboveground. It wouldn't be the same as talking with Lisbeth or Tori, and she wouldn't be able to listen to their sibling banter, but it was still a nice end to the trek back to the city.

She opened the «Messages» tab, and the bottom of her stomach seemed to drop away.

｢ASUNA, GET SOMEWHERE SAFE｣

｢STAY AWAY FROM IRAE｣

Asuna stopped. Irae turned to look at her.

"What's wrong?"

* * *

 **A/N:** Once again, I have posted a day late, and I'm sorry for that. I should probably just say now to expect updates on Mondays from now on. This week, I just had to do a bunch of research. Turns out if you google "SAO Linear," you get two results from Sword art online, then mathematical papers and other results from Sao Paolo. Huh.

Yes, this was another Asuna chapter. I decided it would be better to finish getting Asuna and Irae back into the city before expounding on other plotlines, like Yuuki's, Kouichirou's, or PoH's. There's also plenty of juicy subtleties and foreshadowing if you managed to catch them. I don't actually know if they were too obvious or too subtle; I don't have a beta reader.

In this chapter, I talk a fair amount about the systems in SAO, and you may have noticed I changed a bunch of them. Here's the deal: SAO as a game isn't very fleshed out in canon, and I decided to take some liberties for the sake of consistency and game balance. I explain why the canon system of dealing with rare drops is dumb if support or healer classes exist. In original SAO, where for some reason ranged weapons and any kind of support role doesn't exist, it could work. However, I'd like to have some variation in character class, and therefore I have to deal with the item drop problem. Another big one was the name «Sword Skills». Come on, your game is named «Sword Art Online», name your skills «Sword Arts», dammit!

I should probably go back and edit an earlier chapter to properly explain these differences. It's on my to do list for the summer.

Removed Irae quote: "We're players; the only thing we can't pull out of our asses is literal shit."

5/23/16


	19. Chapter 18

The Magicians' Guild Hall was a huge building hiding behind a modest exterior. From the street, the entrance seemed a regular, if slightly larger, door not unlike those seen all over the city. The only hint as to the building's extent was the lack of any other door along the facade of the entire block. Immediately inside there was only a small waiting room and a desk where orders and appointments could be made.

Alexis led her charges through a side door and down a narrow hallway before they came out to an open area. Yuuki was surprised to see green grass spread out, interspersed with the occasional tree or fountain, stretching beyond where she could see. The trees grew denser farther away, though several of those seemed blackened and dead. The building wrapped around this area, several floors tall, like a giant hugging the largest piece of nature in a city made of stone and wood. Balconies lined the walls on every floor on the right side, allowing access to rows of doors.

"This is the center of the living quarters here," Alexis explained softly. "Your rooms are on the third floor on the right. We'll just take down your names and you can choose a room."

Ran leaned in close to Yuuki. "Does that mean we can get away?"

Alexis was already answering that question. "Now, would the two little twins please come speak with me?"

The other guildsmen were already directing players around, pulling out clipboards and recording names. Ran cautiously approached Alexis, Yuuki in tow.

"Follow," the red-haired woman said, beckoning with a finger. She marched off without checking to see if Yuuki and Ran were obeying.

Ran gave Yuuki a glance that clearly said, _Well, she's sure of herself_.

Yuuki smiled back. She looked over her shoulder to the other magicians helping process the players and made a face that replied, _We don't really have a choice, though, do we?_

Ran nodded, leading the way after Alexis.

The twins followed Alexis to the left, away from the other players' destination and through a set of double doors. What followed was a series of hallways and staircases that Yuuki felt followed some kind of order, but seemed a mazelike warren her first time through.

Appearance-wise, the Guild hall looked like an odd blend of a European palace and a school. The impression of the latter came from the layout; wide hallways provided access to row on row of identical doors. There were even little indents in the wall similar to those a school would have for water fountains. Instead of offering water, though, each housed a small stained-wood desk with an unlit oil lamps. In the evenings, when the light filtering down from skylights and the occasional ajar door dissipated, these would likely be the only source of light. That was what made Yuuki think of a palace—the lamps sitting on their neat wooden tables, along with the marble floor boasting a varied design, and the beautifully-carved wooden frame around the doors; the stylistic elements of the building.

Alexis selected a door indistinguishable from all the others and invited them into some kind of office. A wide, paper-strewn desk and cushioned chair stood in front of a wide window which provided a view of the players darting across balconies across the courtyard. The left wall was completely covered by a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf overstuffed with books and scrolls. More books were piled in stacks around the base of the desk and in the corners of the room. Yuuki wondered if she could find that in every office of the Magicians' Guild. What she probably wouldn't find elsewhere, however, was the numerous cases of musical instruments lined up against the right wall. There was a bass, several horns, at least three violins, and every possible variety of flute somewhere on that wall.

Alexis ignored this mess and sat down in her chair. There was nowhere else to sit, so Ran just sat on the ground. Yuuki quickly followed suit, and found she was now too close to the ground to see all of Alexis's face over the corner of the desk. She heard a sigh, before Alexis stood up and walked back around the desk. Yuuki's fear of her dissipated on seeing Alexis try to assert some form of petty authority by sitting on a stack of books with her back against the desk.

"So, you two know Irae." She began with a statement of fact.

Ran nodded slowly.

"I need to know everything there is to know about him. Where did you meet him? What did he work as? What is your relationship with him?" Alexis's voice rose in a steady crescendo.

Yuuki's head was spinning. Alexis really wasn't holding back. "We didn't know him that long."

Ran elbowed her. Maybe it would have been better if Yuuki hadn't said anything.

Yuuki already had Alexis's attention, though. "What was your name, sweetheart?"

"Ah…" Yuuki looked to Ran, and her sister nodded. "I'm Yuuki."

Alexis quickly glanced back to Ran.

"Ran," she introduced herself.

Alexis turned back to Yuuki. Her gaze was intense, holding nothing back. It didn't feel like she was hiding anything, simply letting her rabid curiosity pour out. "So, where did you meet Irae?"

Yuuki hesitated. It wasn't that dramatic a meeting, and the sisters hadn't learned all that much about Andy back then. Even so, Alexis worried Yuuki. Her rapid changes in demeanor seemed neither friendly nor predictable. Ran was similarly worried, and she was usually a good judge of character.

"Don't worry; I'm not planning to hurt him. If anything, I want to help him," Alexis said. Somehow, Yuuki wasn't sure that was the whole story. She didn't seem to be outright lying, though.

Still, Yuuki didn't have many options here. Alexis could just hold them in her office until they said something, and their goal in the first place had been to find Irae. Alexis could help with that.

So, Yuuki began telling the story. "It was a while ago. Me and Ran, we… we were held in a hospital. We're… sick. We can't go outside."

Alexis was nodding, wearing a suitably concerned expression. When she wasn't inquiring, she seemed to calm down and act a lot friendlier, though Yuuki couldn't tell if this concern and friendliness was feigned.

Ran seemed to get a little irritated by Yuuki's halting speech. "A while ago, people were experimenting with virtual reality stuff. While everyone was talking about what it would do to games, one of the companies developing it contacted our hospital. They had previously worked on ways to effectively put people under for surgery without some of the downsides of drugs, and they wanted to bring VR games to hospitals as well. Yuuki and I got to try it."

"Wait," Yuuki interrupted. "Do you understand everything we're saying about video games and electronics? I haven't really seen anything like that here."

"You're sitting in the Magicians' Guild," Alexis began slowly before accelerating. "For us, magic doesn't just refer to the ability to conjure fire, but to anything unknown. Academics' Guild would also be a suitable name, though we do have some fighters and artists in our ranks. The idea of simulated realities is an old one, and previous appearances of players have taught us a lot about your world."

"There have been other players here?" Ran asked, surprised.

"It happens about once in eighty years," Alexis answered dismissively. "Now, continue your story."

Ran opened her mouth to ask more questions, but Alexis stopped her with a gesture. She nodded to Yuuki again.

"Uh…"

"You were playing a virtual-space game," Alexis prompted.

"Yes." Yuuki remembered. "It was just a simple garden you could wander in, enjoy the fields, explore little villages. It was small and pretty empty, but it was still better than the hospital. There weren't a lot of players, and we knew basically everyone that played."

"And one of them was Irae?" Alexis was getting excited again.

"Let her talk," Ran ordered. Funnily enough, Alexis obeyed like a small child would.

Yuuki smiled to Ran before continuing. "He was a new player that suddenly stopped to talk to us. Irae"—Yuuki decided it better not to reveal his real name without permission—"was only there for a few days, which was strange. Most people who played…"

Ran noticed the pause and said, "Everyone there was there for good. Later we found out that Irae was injured, and the person who brought him in requested specifically that he to be allowed to play."

Alexis seemed bothered. "You only knew him a few days? Really?"

"Three days, actually," Ran said.

"Well, what did you learn about him in that time? Who were his friends? Give me something here." Alexis was becoming a little frantic, but more in a manner of a grade schooler realizing Summer was almost over than anything more sinister.

"Uhh… Well he really likes music. He was constantly complaining how the game didn't have a working instrument," Yuuki explained helpfully.

Alexis rolled her eyes. "Alright, do you know who it was that requested Irae play the game?"

"I don't know her name, but she stopped by a couple times. She seemed nice," Ran said.

Yuuki almost burst out laughing as Alexis crumpled into a ball. "You're saying you have nothing to tell me?" She was cradling her head in her hands and rocking side to side on her stack of books.

This scene almost made Yuuki want to help Alexis. "I heard the injury that sent him to the hospital came from work, and that it was bad. I don't know what it was, though. It should have gotten him a lot of money, because I heard he donated a bunch to the hospital."

Alexis still didn't seem entirely happy, remaining curled up in a ball on her little stack of books.

"Oh, yeah, one more thing." Yuuki didn't really feel like she had to hold back anything. "Earlier today we mentioned Irae to some friends. They seemed to know him."

Ran subtly elbowed Yuuki. It was a mistake to bring that up, but Yuuki realized too late. This was why Ran should have handled the talking.

Alexis was sitting ramrod straight now. "Go on…"

"His name was Inkling. He seemed to want to keep it to himself." She could at least keep Neko out of this discussion, avoid some of the damage.

Alexis was smiling. "It's something," she laughed.

A knock came from the door.

Instantly, Alexis calmed down and spoke evenly, "Come in."

A young man slipped through the door. He seemed to be one of the assistants that had helped move the players here, dressed in a well-tailored suit. He glanced at Yuuki and Ran before stating, "A messenger from Lord Vander is asking for you, my lady."

Alexis stood up. "I will see him. Can you take these two girls to a room? Make sure their names get taken down. See if you can find them a sponsor if you have time."

The man nodded. Alexis quickly stood and left the room.

"If you would follow me," the man said to the twins.

Ran picked herself up from the floor and Yuuki followed suit. The man led them out to the hallways and began retracing the path Alexis had taken to get here.

"So," Ran said, "I'm Ran. This is Yuuki."

The man began his statement with a nod. "I am Jarq, Mergienne's apprentice."

"Mergienne? Is she Alexis's friend or something?"

"They're not particularly close. Mergienne works in magical construction and maintenance while Alexis is a manager of research. I was just one member of the guild sent to make sure Alexis's endeavor goes smoothly."

"It seems the guild is interested in us."

"Players are useful. Many prominent magicians have taken an interest in the systems that bring players here. Some are merely looking for assistants. Your messaging ability is particularly noteworthy."

"Huh. I suppose that's what sponsoring Alexis mentioned is about?"

Jarq nodded. "We'll worry about that after you've chosen a room."

They reemerged into the open courtyard again. The other players had already dispersed; Yuuki spotted a few still walking along the balcony on one of the encircling walls, but most were nowhere the twins could see.

Ran and Yuuki left Jarq in the dust when they reached the stairs across the courtyard. Evidently the assistant wasn't that fit, or perhaps some of Alexis's energy had gathered in the twins when they left.

The stairs themselves were external, though they were still styled after a European palace. Yuuki whispered to Ran as they darted up the stairs, "It's built like a motel."

Ran chuckled. It was true; if a motel was made in the Renaissance by skilled craftsmen, this was what it would look like. It was certainly beautifulIy crafted and detailed, but it was just a little hard to dispel the image of a cheap roadside motel when looking at the face of the building.

Another assistant was waiting by the stairs on the third floor. He stopped them, speaking in a mellifluous voice, "I'm afraid most of the rooms have already been taken. I would recommend the door just past that flower pot there."

There were potted plants all the way down the balcony, but Ran didn't seem to mind. She marched right off, dragging Yuuki along before she could ask what potted flower the man had been referring to.

As they ran down the balcony, the scenery in the courtyard shifted. Yuuki became aware of just how large it was; the far side still seemed just as far as when they'd entered. Inside it was went from open fields to dense forests to ponds and fountains. It was more of a garden than a courtyard, really. From here, the blackened patch of trees was also easier to identify; one specific patch of trees was rendered dead, as if a fire had erupted in those twenty square meters without spreading. The potted plants along the balcony railing and hanging from hooks extended the scene of green toward Yuuki's eyes. Glancing further ahead, she noticed those plants also turned black around where the scar in the greenery was, with some other signs of damage on the building.

Ran stopped suddenly, Yuuki sliding to a halt right behind her. The reason was that a person had just emerged from a door right in front of them. She clearly wasn't a player; her clothing wasn't anything a player could buy at this point in the game, a tight-fitting dark shirt and similar pants that dispensed with any bagginess to maximise mobility. Her black hair blended into her clothing, but contrasted with her pale complexion. She was perhaps twenty, though it was difficult to tell with her face wearing an annoyed expression as she looked to the sisters.

The woman looked down the balcony and tilted her head, exasperated. Yuuki looked back to see Jarq rushing down the balcony, with the other guildsman who had been guarding the stairs chuckling as he stayed behind.

"Don't go down this far; all the rooms here are taken," she stated.

"Oh," Ran said. "Where's the last—"

The woman had already turned her back and was walking away.

"Hey." Ran followed her.

The woman ignored her, knocking on her neighbour's door.

"Kana! You alive?"

It was at this point that Jarq reached them. He straightened himself and steadied his breath before saying, "Yuuki, Ran, the last available room is behind—"

He was cut off by the woman addressing him. "You're an errandboy today, right? What's your name?"

Jarq looked a little taken aback, but responded, "I am Jarq, Mergienne—"

"Wonderful, I need you to tell Mergienne that Karnalia's room will need a new lock."

Jarq nervously looked to the door. "That's a new lock. It seems perfectly—"

The woman pulled a vial from a pocket and emptied a few drops of clear liquid onto the lock. She deftly pulled out another container, this one more of a beaker, and held it underneath as the lock began to melt. She swirled the coppery liquid around in the beaker before producing a large stopper and stowing it in some other hidden pocket. She then used a card to reach into the remnants of the lock and turn the mechanism, finally allowing her to push open the door.

The expressions of those around Yuuki couldn't vary more. Jarq stood in pale silence while Ran smiled in sanguine curiosity. The woman gestured for them all to leave, but only Jarq obeyed. Ran instead shifted closer, peering into the dark room.

The room wasn't all that large, with a few books scattered around, but not at the level of Alexis's office. The curtains were all drawn, and there was no lamp, leaving the light pouring through the door as the only source of light. On the bed tucked into the corner was a girl, perhaps a year or two younger than the woman who had just broken into her room. She didn't look healthy; her skin was pale and covered in sweat, and she seemed far too tense to be waking from a calm sleep. The woman quickly rushed to her bedside.

"I told you not to fight yesterday. How bad is it?"

"It's fine." The girl, Kana, shifted her head slightly, squinting at the door. "More importantly, is it my vision blurry or am I seeing two cute little twins over by the door?"

The woman who was now kneeling by Kana's bedside turned her head to look out the door. "I thought I told you to go."

"Nooooooo…" Kana's voice was weak, though her tone still attempted to convey some idea of humour. "Don't send them away…"

Ran was already wandering through the door, though the older woman didn't seem too happy about it. She looked to Kana, then to Ran, then quickly got up. She brushed past the twins and leaned out the door.

"You!" she called down the balcony, gesturing to the guildsman who still stood by the stairs. "Flyer? Fluorine? Get your ass over here!"

She returned to Kana's bedside.

"It's dark," Kana mumbled. "Here, let me get—"

The older woman caught her hand as Kana extended it. "You're an idiot, you know that?"

Kana smiled.

The guildsman arrived at the door. "You require something, my lady?"

"We need to get Verian here, fast as possible. Can you do that?"

The guildsman smiled and shook his head. "I'm afraid I'm stuck with the children toda—"

"Kana's barely holding on!"

"What I mean is we have two players here, and Jarq tells me they need a sponsor. One can be on her way, and the other can communicate our directions to her."

The woman didn't seem happy about that, and Yuuki wasn't either, though for different reasons. She didn't want to be separated from Ran to run an errand. She looked over to Ran, and a small nod told her that Ran agreed.

"Fine, run with it. Can you handle communication?" The woman seemed to want to resolve this as quickly as possible, though something about the guildsman's bearing told Yuuki that this wasn't as serious as the woman was making it out to be.

"Wait!" Ran said. "Don't we get a say in this? I don't want to be separated from Yuuki."

The guildsman looked to Kana and sighed, though if there was any annoyance behind it he hid it well. He stepped back out the door, calling someone from down the balcony.

"Sure is crowded in here…" Kana murmured.

"Don't worry about it. I'll get Verian here soon." The woman was back to holding Kana's hand.

Another player appeared at the door, a slightly older girl with short green hair, slightly taller than the twins. Yuuki recognized it as Merida, the girl they'd talked with before coming here.

"We're facing a bit of a dilemma here," the guildsman began to explain. "We need someone to communicate with these two young ladies while they go find someone. Could you open your communication channel so that I can send them directions?"

Merida seemed a little lost by all the people in the small, dark room. Ran quickly walked up to her.

"Hi, I'm Ran. I think you talked with Yuuki here earlier," she said brightly, offering a friend request. Yuuki quickly sent her own friend request, and it was quickly accepted.

Merida nodded, mumbling out her name.

"Get going," the woman said. "I hope you can make it out of the guild on your own."

Ran nodded and set off, Yuuki following just behind.

"Hey, Yuu, who's covering communication?" Ran asked.

"I'll do it." Yuuki was better at watching multiple things at once; she could leave the leading to Ran.

While the attitudes of everyone in the room except the woman had hinted that Kana's condition wasn't too bad, the twins still decided to hurry. They took the stairs down to the courtyard two at a time, and brushed past others in the narrow entrance hallway without slowing down.

At the small shop-like area near the front door, they spotted Alexis talking with a young girl that must have been the messenger that had come for her. The girl's hair was an even brighter red than Alexis's. Yuuki hadn't seen a lot of people with red hair around the city; most had dark hair and some were blond, but those two were the only redheads she'd seen so far.

"Which way are we going?" Ran asked.

Yuuki quickly opened her menu and typed a quick message to Merida. A few seconds later, she got a response.

｢Turn left out of the building, that's south

｢You need to get to the central plaza, which is southeast

｢Sorry, this Fyner guy has no idea how to give directions

｢He's saying to turn left on every street that has a shop on the corner but no clothesline

｢and right on every street whose name starts with a consonant｣

Yuuki scratched her head. ｢Where are the signs for street names?｣

｢I'll just tell you turn by turn｣

As it turned out, Ran didn't need much help finding her way back to the central square, giving Yuuki many more chances to observe the city. They kept out of the alleys this time, navigating purely along the wider cobbled avenues. People, mostly citizens of the city, meandered through the streets on their daily business or formed clusters that would talk about people and recent events. Yuuki only caught brief snippets of conversation as she was pulled along by Ran, but from what she could understand, a number of big events had happened in the city after the players had arrived.

Closer to their starting point, people were talking about loud noises coming from the Guild Hall in the night. Apparently that wasn't normal. Yuuki recalled that the woman who had sent them on this fetch quest had said Kana shouldn't have fought the previous day, and the blackened trees in the garden had been right outside her door. There might have been a connection, but the passersby didn't say enough and Yuuki didn't hear enough to make any conclusions.

As they drew closer to the central plaza, though, the most common topics of conversation shifted to something else. Apparently someone important had died the previous night, killed in his home. The worrisome part was that some of the people were blaming the players for the assassination, and the many small discussions quickly became inflamed. Angered gazes occasionally turned to Yuuki and Ran as they ran past.

Yuuki was relieved when they finally stepped into the central plaza. Despite being central, far fewer people wandered across the open expanse. The natives of the city probably saw this place as the players' domain, and the players probably didn't want to be reminded of yesterday's opening ceremony. There were no market stalls set up as there were in smaller plazas, and even the small band that had played music here the first few hours after launch was gone. Some might have seen this place as eerily empty, but Yuuki had always preferred open spaces to crowded ones.

Ran looked to Yuuki expectantly.

"The temple on the western end of the plaza." Yuuki read off a message.

There were two temples around the plaza, the colossal cathedral originally intended as a respawn point, and the smaller, simpler, and darker temple opposite it. Judging by the angle they came in from, Merida was talking about the smaller temple. Its design bore more of a classical appearance than a gothic or renaissance-period structure. There were many smooth faces and pillars, with intense detail contained to reliefs that spilled from narrow bands running across the front face of the structure. While the structure could be described as darker, it was largely made of a fairly light stone. The impression of darkness came from the bands of grey and black that ran across the structure alongside the reliefs, exaggerating shadows and drawing the eyes to a colossal circular glass window directly above the front door. It was a structure that simultaneously looked imposing and welcoming, simple and beautiful.

The front doors were huge, at least three times as tall as Yuuki, made of an unidentifiable black material. Yuuki wasn't sure she would be able to open the door if they'd come when it was closed.

Inside, the temple revealed itself to be much longer than it was wide. The simpler, classical aesthetic maintained itself in the interior, with many plain faces and simple pillars. There were no benches, leaving the center of the temple rather open. An altar stood at the far end of the cathedral, over fifty meters away.

As Ran tugged her along, however, Yuuki began to notice where the focus of the interior was. Outside, the pillars and stripes of grey had all directed the eye to the huge circular window, and here the grey lines formed squares with pillars at the corner, eventually directing Yuuki's attention to the windows dominating the upper half of the walls to either side. Where the front window had been clear glass, these were all stained-glass images of various characters, largely dominated by the colour red. One was a beautiful mermaid reaching up out of the water, hair, eyes, and tail streaked with scarlet. In the top third of the window, a red-jacketed man held his face as he ran from her. Another showed a crimson sunset dying the scene of a man hanging from the gallows on a hilltop. A darker one showed a solitary candle lighting the scene of unidentifiable green-eyed creature scuttling between the shadows of a kitchen.

The twins passed many other images of death and fantastical creatures as they made their way to the altar. They saw no one, however; for such a large temple near noontime, there were no worshippers or priests in sight.

｢In the temple. Don't see anyone｣ Yuuki wrote.

｢He says to just wait.｣ Merida wrote back.

There was nowhere to sit, so Ran ended up just leaning against a pillar near the altar. Yuuki remained standing, pacing around a little as her hungry eyes consumed every detail of the temple.

Other than the windows, the temple was quite austere. The only real details were the columns and the grey and black bands that traced paths across the floor, pillars and ceiling, converging around the windows. What made the temple beautiful was the way these simple visual markers wandered around each other, somehow seeming alive if one were to follow one band around the temple, yet still making a cohesive design if one observed the temple as a whole.

One band snaked from the steps leading up to the altar, going down the center of the floor, before colliding with a darker band and twining around it toward the wall, before finally breaking off, looping around the base of a few pillars, and coming to rest under a window displaying a red comet soaring a plain bisected by a river. Elsewhere, two intertwined bands meandered across the floor before one component split off to climb a pillar while another darted from band to band, pillar to pillar, before landing on an image of a lone warrior fighting off a sea of armoured soldiers.

"I'm not sure he's coming," Ran finally spoke.

Yuuki shrugged as she sent a message to that effect. She returned to Ran's side.

"By the way, you never told me about what you saw in the conversation with Inkling's gang," Ran said.

"Oh, yeah. Basically, when we mentioned Andy's name, Neko just twitched a little. You caught Inkling when we mentioned Irae, but Neko also reacted, just really sneakily. He might know Andy, or at least someone named Andy he suspects might be our Andy."

Ran nodded. "He's on our «Friends List», we can ask him about it sometime."

"He was really subtle about it though. I'm not sure we should."

"What's the harm? If he doesn't want to talk about it, he'll say so when we ask, and it's more honest to go up to him and say we know _something_ than just keeping quiet about it."

"I guess."

Yuuki's eyes traced another band as silence took hold for a moment. The silence was broken by the sound of bells; a beautiful chorus rang through the city, emanating from the cathedral just across the plaza from where they were. After a few moments, the bells calmed, replaced by the deep tolling of just one bell. Judging by the sound, it must have been colossal. Yuuki imagined a bell completely covering their old house, being lifted by hundreds of burly men and mounted in some truly massive tower. She'd like to see the actual bell, to see how it compared with her image.

After the twelfth tone faded away, Ran asked, "Did you see anything with Alexis?"

"Nope. You probably know more about her than I do."

"She doesn't actually seem that bad," Ran said. "Overbearing, maybe a little creepy, but I get the feeling she was doing everything more out of curiosity than anything bad."

A priest finally appeared then, approaching from a door in a sidewall. Yuuki gasped; she'd seen this man last night, watching Ran's exchange with Kouichirou from an alley. He was fairly tall, with pale skin and a bald head. Even in the light of midday, he looked a bit like a ghost, his black robes enunciating the paleness of his face.

"Astute observations," the man said. "I am Verian, priest of the Temples Lia. What can I do for you today?"

"You're the guy from yesterday," Yuuki blurted out.

Verian smiled. "Yes, I certainly existed yesterday."

Yuuki groaned. Ran took over. "We were sent here by the Magicians' Guild. There was a girl named Kana who looked really sick and someone else told us to get you."

"I suppose that would be Aelise?"

Ran shrugged.

"Perhaps I'll go," Verian muttered, almost to himself. "It is partially my fault, after all. Lead the way, my dear."

* * *

 **A/N:** Mystery solved. Verian is, in fact, not a solipsist. Though Jarq is not a jerk.

When I started writing this chapter, I didn't like it. It felt disjointed and messy, though I came to like it as I wrote. I played with language a lot, including a robe that enunciates and curiosity that is sanguine. There are several instances of foreshadowing and references, sometimes subtle and sometimes obvious. I doubt anyone caught the reference to Ravel (that's a hint). It should be noted that while this chapter has some setup for the boar crusade arc, it is the start of its own arc that happens at the same time as the boar crusade. These of course all come together to form a bigger arc where everyone dies at the end.

In other news, I recently received the most helpful, detailed, and uplifting set of reviews, and I would like to thank unbakedmuffins for that. He is my hero. Combined with some recent interest from one of my real-life friends, this has pushed me to solidify a lot of my plans to hopefully make future writing more cohesive and punctual.

Apologies for this incredibly late chapter, a bunch of real-life stuff came up and cut away my writing time. The regular schedule, which I should be returning to next week, will to upload on Monday from now on. This is partially because Game of Thrones shows on Sunday.


	20. Chapter 19

The organization of all the players in the warehouse had taken quite a while, and Kouichirou's party was exhausted. As soon as the work was done, they went straight to the nearest streetside bench plastered themselves across it to stare at the sky.

"Jeez, dealing with people is hard," Neko groaned.

Agil laughed. He was in the best condition of the three, sitting up instead of lying on his back. "If this is how you feel after working for less than two hours, I'd like to see you work a day at my bar."

"Hey, I only _look_ exhausted. I can go all day, I just need a few seconds."

"Suuuuure," Kouichirou sighed.

Neko shot to his feet. "Where to next, commander?" he asked, snapping a salute to somewhere between Agil and Kouichirou.

"I don't really have anything urgent to do," Agil chuckled. "We can't really go fighting for EXP, and I'm fine with just helping Inkling look for his sister."

Neko nodded, a rapid vertical vibration of his head. "Good, good. That makes you commander, then?" He looked expectantly to Kouichirou.

"Ah… Are you guys sure you want to be sticking to me?" Kouichirou asked, sitting up. He didn't really have a problem with them, but he didn't want to bother them with his own problems. Plus, he still hadn't spoken with Yui since yesterday, and he had the feeling she would only come out if there was no one else nearby.

Neko shrugged. "I'm not bothered; it's more fun this way. I'm suspecting there's a _plot_. That dragon guy from earlier kidnapped Asuna and is holding her captive. But why? Is someone paying him? I want to know the answers."

Agil and Kouichirou rolled their eyes.

Kouichirou opened his menu, checking the player list to make sure Asuna was still okay. It had become a habitual motion for him, and the result was the same as it always was. Asuna was still alive, but he didn't know where she was.

"So, do either of you have a suggestion for where to look?" Kouichirou asked, revealing his menu to the others and opening his map.

Neko repositioned himself to peer over Kouichirou's shoulder. Agil didn't have to move; his position and towering figure gave him a clear view of the map of the city.

"Granden's scouts probably covered the northern and western quarters of the city pretty well," Kouichirou explained. "The western quarter doesn't make a lot of sense anyways, because the western gate comes out right next to a forest with high-level enemies. Not for starters."

"Honestly, why did you guys make this city so big?" Neko complained, eyes darting around every street corner on the map.

Kouichirou shrugged. "I think they wanted to keep this city as one of the main hubs even after more floors were unlocked."

"What bothers me," Agil said, "Is where most of the players are. There are ten thousand total, and no more than a few hundred could have left the city or died in just twenty-three hours. There were only a few hundred at the warehouse. What we're looking for is the place everyone went."

Neko nodded. "I'm also willing to bet almost everyone is homeless right now. I mean, Kayaba seemed pretty obsessed with copying the real world, and I don't think a medieval city could house ten thousand new arrivals."

"You're saying my sister is homeless?"

"Yup."

Kouichirou whirled on Neko, but Agil stepped between them. "Right now, we should decide if we're going to the south or east."

"We need more information," Neko said. "Making a decision without knowing the difference between your options is the same as not having a choice at all. Or so my dad used to say. Of course, you can't always have all the information."

"Sucks that I wasn't able to find «The Rat» earlier," Agil mumbled.

"Wait," Kouichirou said. He closed the map and entered his friends list. There, close to the top, was Argo's name.

"When did that happen?" Agil asked.

Kouichirou didn't answer, already typing out a message.

｢Need some information. Are there more players in the eastern or southern quarters?｣

"You know she's going to ask for some kind of payment or information in exchange, right?" Agil asked.

"I helped her out with something earlier, so I think I'm good."

Agil was silent for a moment. Neko pranced around him, poking his side. "You act like that's a big deal."

"This is «The Rat» we're talking about. She doesn't get in anyone's debt."

"That's ridiculous," Neko said, steadily getting entranced by the action of constantly poking Agil's side.

"They say she was the richest player in SAO by the end of the beta thanks to all the secrets she discovered. She had so much control and connections that she could single-handedly start guild wars with her words. Some even say that she made deals with Argus employees to get inside knowledge on the company and the patches that were still in development. That's the person we're talking about."

Neko shrugged. "I've known more impressive people," he commented flippantly.

Agil looked in shock. "I get the feeling you wouldn't appreciate greatness if it was staring you in the face."

Neko laughed.

A ring notified Kouichirou that Argo's reply had come.

｢Eastern quarter has more inns and hiding places. Busy now, will talk later.｣

"Hey, have you asked her about Asuna yet?" Neko asked.

Kouichirou realized that he hadn't. Yesterday, he'd been half-asleep and «The Rat» had been asking too many questions about the name list for him to get in a question of his own. He quickly remedied that with a message that gave Argo some time to respond.

Agil was still staring at the previous message.

"What, basking in the glory of our great commander Inkling?" Neko asked.

Agil looked away. "So I suppose we're going East, then?"

Kouichirou answered by choosing an eastbound street and leading the party down it.

"Inkling, you've been a little quiet," Neko said. "Did something happen? Are you being possessed by white dragon guy?"

Kouichirou realized he had just been passively listening to his companions' banter. "No, I'm just not a big talker."

"Well, we're a team dammit, so you better start talking. We need to know if there are _any_ cute girls in your life."

An image of Yui shot through Kouichirou's mind. Neko was probably talking about girlfriends, though, which Kouichirou didn't have. He gave an awkward smile and said, "Sorry, I was more of a business guy after I got out of school."

Neko shook his head as he looked to Agil. "This guy."

"Hey, what's wrong about having direction in life?" Kouichirou asked.

"Nothing. It's just that you can't really take that direction anymore, can you?"

"If you're worried my life is pointless, I have a goal right now," Kouichirou responded. "Find Asuna."

"So you find her. Then what?"

"Then we get out of the game."

Neko positioned himself in front of Kouichirou, walking backward, and looked him right in the eye. "Doesn't that mean that your goal is to leave the game with your sister, and not two separate goals?"

"You're looking at me very seriously but I don't see what the difference is."

Neko sighed. "Well, well-defined goals"—Neko took a second to repeat the word 'well' a few more times—"are good for getting you through moral grey areas. By thinking of your goal as two goals, don't you think it makes it easy to just ignore half your goal whenever you want? You're searching for your sister right now, but you're totally ignoring the 'getting out of the game' half of your goal. If you ever state a big goal, you should make sure it encompasses everything you're working toward, not just what you want to think about right now, otherwise it won't help you make decisions when it really counts."

Agil, who had been silent through this exchange, asked, "Where is this coming from?"

Neko shrugged in a very exaggerated, comic way, complete with upturned palms and head tilt. "I read a lot, and I find it frustrating when the main character can't make up his damn mind. I hold my commander to higher standards. You look like you've been out of school for a while. Do you still read?"

"I think Agil as also asking about why you're talking about philosophy _now_ of all times."

"Hey, I had to bring it up eventually, and you weren't talking. Plus my way of getting stuff done is to passively work to my goals until I get there, and while I understand your system is probably different, it's still a little alien to me."

Neko turned around to face forward now, returning to the activity of observing the city as they passed through it. The silence that followed didn't seem to bother him, despite his earlier complaint that Kouichirou wasn't talking. Had he just wanted to explain himself? Did he think it would help Kouichirou somehow?

Kouichirou looked to Agil, but the giant man seemed just as confused as him.

While Neko had called Kouichirou the 'commander,' he was the one who lead them into the western quarter. The cessation of conversation left Kouichirou's eyes to wander around his surroundings almost as much as Neko's, though there weren't that many people around to grab his attention. Instead, his eyes drew to the buildings they passed on their walk.

Somehow, Kouichirou detected some kind of gradual shift in the city around him. The northern quarter they had been walking through was the face of the city; the buildings adhered to some kind of standardized aesthetic, a sort of stereotypical medieval European mix of wood and stone interspersed with the occasional plaza or larger public building. The eastern quarter, however, was a mess of different styles. One building would look Greek, with marble pillars supporting a triangular roof, and the next would look like a run-down tavern from any old fantasy MMO. The lack of any kind of consistency was dizzying. Kouichirou wondered how he would find Asuna in this mess.

"Man, «The Rat» wasn't lying when she said this quarter had the most inns," Agil commented. It seemed every other building offered at least a couple of rooms to travelers.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and say this is the commercial district," Kouichirou agreed. "Makes sense; the north and west gates don't exactly open to the best travel routes."

"So, I don't know about you guys, but I'm hungry. Think we could start our search in the nearest restaurant?" Neko said.

"Do you think your stomach could wait?" Kouichirou asked. It felt wrong to delay the search for his sister.

"Come on," Neko said. "Don't you know the scene? The protagonist walks into a bar and overhears some relevant conversation in the background to get started in his search. Your advantage is that you have a lovable sidekick to run around and hear all the details that come up later in the plot."

Kouichirou closed his eyes slowly and when he opened them he gave Neko the most condescending glare he could manage.

"We know how you feel, man," Agil said. "But Neko has a point. We should talk with some people to find out what's going on, maybe ask if anyone's seen her."

Before Kouichirou could say anything, Neko had already run off to a staircase providing entrance to an underground floor. The entrance was small—Agil had to tilt his head to fit through—but the seamless grey stone and railing felt otherwise almost modern.

Inside was a dark and gloomy bar. Only five small tables were scattered about the small room, and only two were in use. The four players there all moved slowly and mechanically, spending their time wordlessly staring into chipped earthenware mugs.

The bartender glanced tiredly to the three newcomers. He was a squat old man, with grey hair and wrinkles disguising what seemed to remain a rather fit body. "Sorry, there aren't any rooms left," he breathed.

"Actually," Agil said, flashing his smile, "We're here to get some food and ask a few questions."

The bartender nodded, gesturing for them to sit at the counter. "I suppose that means panbread?"

The other players hadn't moved or shown any reaction to their party's arrival. Neko wandered over to the closer of the two occupied tables and tapped a player on the shoulder. It took most of five seconds for a grunt to be given in response.

"Hey, we're actually looking for someone. You wouldn't have happened to see an orange-haired girl about nay tall…" Neko held an awkward position indicating Asuna's height for a few seconds awaiting a response.

The bartender mumbled over, "They haven't left the building since coming here last night. Some kind of shock I suppose. Everyone with any wits about them are out at some kind of rally. Here's your bread, by the way."

The man laid down three pieces of bread about the size and shape of a large pizza, each smooth, hard, and an unappetizing greyish colour.

"These look like the pan they were probably made on," Agil commented.

"That's why it's called panbread."

Agil thanked the man anyway, but when he tried to open a window, the man shook his head. "Materialize the stuff. A five Cor coin, if you could."

Kouichirou curled his eyebrows, but Agil obeyed regardless. The bartender provided three mugs of water to make up the difference.

"If you don't mind me asking, what's wrong with one Cor coins?" Kouichirou asked.

"One-pieces aren't pure copper, so you can't get them exchanged at quite the same rate as a five or ten. I'm not good enough with the windows to change them myself, and they charge extra for that."

"You're saying you don't use Cor?" Kouichirou asked. He'd helped design some of the money drop systems, and he found himself a little disappointed that his work wasn't helpful.

"Garad uses Turian coins." The barkeeper took out a couple of small copper coins as a demonstration. They were a lot smaller than Cor coins, about the size of a hundred-yen coin. One side displayed three nested crescents, their thickest sections aimed at three equidistant points along the coin's perimeter. A small outline of a puffy cloud occupied the middle of this pattern. The other side of the coin showed the face of a man Kouichirou supposed might be the Count Palatine they'd heard about this morning.

"So what do you do with the Cor?" Neko asked. Kouichirou hadn't noticed the teenager sneak up behind him and snatch his panbread from the counter.

"The coins get melted down for metal."

Neko nodded. "Makes sense."

Kouichirou understood as well. He'd heard a lot of complaints from the designers, and had to help with the programming to solve a simple problem—mobs in an MMO dropped money, and they respawned, essentially printing money indefinitely. In the real world that caused inflation, and in games it often caused hyperinflation. Last he'd heard, Kayaba's elite team had taken on the problem, though it seemed like their solution wasn't as good for the natives as their own, which simultaneously protected their economy and provided a token source of metal in what was otherwise an unmineable plain.

The bartender was about to get back to a book he'd been reading, written in what Kouichirou supposed was a somewhat stylized version of Japanese. Before he could, however, Agil asked one more question, "You mentioned a rally? We're looking for someone, do you think we'd stand a good chance looking there?"

"Oh, yes, a few hours ago runners were darting around the city to spread the news. Some player said he made a discovery of some sort. I didn't really get all of it, but it was rousing enough to get most of these dolts moving." The bartender's tone adopted a harsh edge whenever he mentioned the players as a group.

"You don't speak highly of the players," Agil commented with a hostile tone Kouichirou hadn't heard him use before. Strangely, it was only now that Kouichirou realized what having Agil's appearance really meant in Japan. Agil was different physically from any Japanese person, and even if his Japanese was perfect and he was friendly, some people would only see the differences.

The bartender shrank a little, himself coming to an understanding of what Agil's bulk meant, though he had different consequences on his mind.

"I have no issue with players, or Suraish, or Sembs, or anything like that," he jabbered, putting in a visible effort to avoid a panic. "We're all equal in Iliya's eyes, right? It's just hard to see these particular people behind you in a positive light when all they do is drink themselves away the moment things don't go their way. If you'd been around the last time the players appeared, you'd know just how easy you lot have it. I can't respect people that don't respect what the gods gave them, and that don't work with what they have. These players still think they're playing a game, they can't even recognize what they have, never mind work with it."

Agil seemed calmed somewhat, though Kouichirou had questions. "What do you mean, 'last time the players appeared'?"

"It was about sixty years ago, and I was too young to remember. All I know is what my parents told me a few years later and what I could see of the destruction. It wasn't pretty."

Before Kouichirou could open his mouth to ask more questions, the barkeeper stressed, "Now, that rally I mentioned should be starting any minute. When you exit, turn left and take the third right. It's a big plaza, you should find it just fine."

Neko quickly chugged down his water, stowing his remaining bread, and sat up. Agil and Kouichirou took a few seconds to catch up with their energetic companion. Agil and Kouichirou thanked the bartender for his time, but Neko just gave a lazy wave before darting up the stairs outside the door.

Getting to the plaza was made easier by the fact that they weren't the only players going there. The messengers must have carried quite the rousing words to mobilize this many players; Kouichirou saw knots of energetic young men rushing forward alongside the ambling individuals sharing the same silence as those they'd seen in the bar. Even children and women were mixed in with the movement that, supplied with streamlets from various alleys, developed into a full current of people aiming for the plaza.

There was already a crowd in the plaza, with rivers of people crashing in from several streets. Kouichirou's party was barely in the plaza, and the sea of faces extended well down the street. There must have been a few thousand players here.

"Well this tells us where all the players were," Neko yelled to be heard over the hundred conversations taking place around them.

"How many do you think there are?" Kouichirou yelled to Agil, who was tall enough to view the crowd as a whole.

Agil crouched down a little. "The whole plaza's packed like sardines, and there's at least four streets that are filled as far as I can see. Behind us the crowd's still forming. Taking into account that a lot of players stayed in their inns, I could see there being six or seven thousand people in this quarter."

That would account for the number of players they'd seen elsewhere in the city.

Before Agil could straighten, Neko tugged on his arm. Kouichirou could just barely hear a whisper, "Stay low; you're too noticeable."

"Why is that—"

A hush rippled through the crowd as a man stood up on a raised platform somewhere in the middle of the plaza.

"I knew it," Neko hissed. "That's the guy from the alley this morning."

Kouichirou couldn't be sure; he hadn't gotten a good look at the face of the attacker from the alley. The man standing above the crowd was distinctive, Kouichirou could see that even across the plaza. He had a handsome face that bore hints of several ethnicities; there was something European about his jawline and hair, but his eyes and skin were Asian. He stood with a posture that communicated confidence and power.

When he began to speak, though, Kouichirou recognized that melodic and dangerous voice.

"Friends, I am Prophet, and I have made an important discovery I'd like to share with you." Prophet paused and Kouichirou heard an echo of those words from behind. It seemed Prophet had gotten a few people to relay his words for those too far to hear.

This was an organized endeavor.

Another man climbed up to the platform beside Prophet. A cloth wrapped around the lower half of his face, leaving visible only eyes that seemed to glow. Kouichirou shivered; those were the eyes of the snake that had been curled around Prophet's neck.

"This man," Prophet said, "Is one of the saints, and he has some words he'd like to share."

The man nodded and spoke. His voice was quiet, almost a whisper, but the crowd stood silent enough for the sound to echo around the plaza. "My name is Razean, and I am a saint. I came to Prophet to explain what I learned of the «Saints». As you have heard in the opening ceremony, the saints can release us from the game, but so long as one saint refuses, that won't happen. You may be wondering, 'if that is the case, why haven't we been released yet?' The answer is simple. Two saints wish to keep us here. The first is Kayaba Akihiko."

Mutters swept through the crowd like ripples formed by a breeze over a pond. The hooded man waited for them to abate before continuing.

"The second is a man named Irae. Last night he killed a saint to secure the position for himself. You may have heard the NPCs whispering about it in the streets. I was there when it happened and witnessed it for myself. From what I can gather, he is a criminal that wishes to avoid the law by staying in the game."

Again, conversations erupted from the crowd, though this time they showed no signs of stopping. A few people closer to the raised platform seemed to be asking questions.

That statement raised a lot of questions in Kouichirou's mind as well. Firstly, the natives had been talking about the death of their ruler, not of a saint. Before this speech, he hadn't known any indication that Irae was a saint at all, or that he had been the one to kill the Count Palatine. It was possible Prophet was just twisting information to get the crowd to help him hunt down Irae—they had certainly been opposing each other earlier. Then there was the supposition that Irae was a criminal. Was there any evidence to support that? If anything, it had been Prophet that had attacked them in an alley. Irae had been the one to offer healing potion. But at the same time, wouldn't it be the man who intended to stay in the game world that would have a healing potion on him by the beginning of day two? They weren't exactly easy to find. Irae had also lured them into a trap simply so he could follow Prophet himself; he wasn't exactly a saint in the real-world sense, even if he could be a «Saint» in Aincrad. Then there was the fact that Irae had gotten on the server before anyone else…

Some of the conversations were crescendoing into yelled arguments. Before the crowd could become too agitated, Prophet took hold of the conversation again, silencing the crowd with his commanding tone. "That brings us to my discovery. Razean mentioned that a saint had already been killed. It was done inside the city. Inside the safe zone. My discovery—"

Prophet raised his hand and curled it into a fist for everyone to see. Then, he drew back his arm and punched Razean in the gut. The hooded man—snake—recoiled before straightening and throwing a punch back at Prophet. This time, a purple hexagon appeared, stopping the fist before it could deal any damage to Prophet. The two of them nodded to confirm that was a demonstration before Prophet continued.

"Saints aren't given city protection. In other words, everyone here can check if their neighbour is a saint by giving them a light punch on the shoulder."

The crowd had already broken into motion, with purple hexagons appearing throughout the dense ocean of players. Somewhere, the movement continued as a bunch of players pressed close to someone that let out a few yells before falling silent.

What followed were calls not of panic or regret or anxiety, but of disappointment.

"Just an NPC."

Prophet spoke again, somehow managing to make his voice heard over the eddies of activity in the crowd. "Some of you may have noticed that city protection only lasts until midnight tonight. In other words, we have just over eleven hours to track down Irae, Kayaba, and the other «Saints». If you become a «Saint», get out to the street and point your sword straight up—I will have people to escort you back to somewhere safe. They may try to hide among the NPCs. To be sure, they must either submit to us and accept our protection, or any possible «Saint» title must be transferred.

"Now, this may seem harsh to you. But think of this: we've been brought here against our will, made to risk our lives on the whim of a psychopathic game developer. He gave us the chance to cheat his own game, and if we don't take this chance, that's the same as just letting him control us! I don't want to be controlled, I just want to go home!"

Prophet's voice had risen in a steady crescendo, and Kouichirou found that even his heart was beating a little bit faster. Prophet's words disgusted him—the man was proposing that the players form a mob and massacre every native in the city because they were 'just NPCs.' He was making it seem like it was their only option, that it was the right thing to do for themselves, for their lives, and for the players as a group. However, wasn't there something wrong about Prophet's method?

When last Kouichirou had run into Prophet, he'd bypassed city protection on Agil, who had safe zone protection beforehand. In other words, it wasn't the person that didn't have protection, but the attack that could bypass it. That show up on the stage was a ruse—it couldn't catch any saints, just natives and whoever Prophet chose as his targets. He'd turned six thousand players into his own personal army with a show and some pretty words.

Were the players fools for it?

It was just as the barkeeper had said earlier. 'They still think they're playing a game, they can't even recognize what they have, never mind work with it.' Now the players' apathy and ignorance would play right into Prophet's hand.

What of Prophet, though? He had explored the city, he probably realized what kind of place it was. Why did he want to massacre the natives? Did he not care about their lives, only the prospect of going home? Or was there another reason that he would threaten the city itself, a reason he deemed more important than hundreds of lives?

Agil, who had been awkwardly half-crouched for the duration of Prophet's speech, quickly stood straight and looked around. "The crowd is starting to spread out. The news hasn't quite hit the edges yet, but it looks like this crowd will begin tearing through the city in a few minutes." He turned to look where Prophet had stood down from his platform. "Prophet's sneaking into a building."

"This isn't good," Neko said almost idly.

"Let «The Rat» know. Hopefully she can help save some people," Agil said.

Kouichirou quickly manipulated his menu to do just that. His fingers zipped across the keyboard, Agil repositioning himself slightly to shield his hands from the crowd.

"Inkling," Neko said softly. It took Kouichirou a moment to finish his message, and when he did, he realized that Neko spoke without his usual childishness or flamboyancy.

"You're the commander, and right now you have to make a decision. Are you going to try to find Asuna in this mess, or maybe look somewhere else? Or are you going to stick around and save whatever natives you can?"

Kouichirou froze. What should he do? At this point, both options seemed impossible. The periphery of the crowd could spill halfway to the central plaza before their party stood any chance of moving, never mind slipping away. He could choose to search for his sister, who had safe zone protection and might not even be in the quarter. Success there would be boolean, with a high chance of failure. Alternatively, they could try to save the natives. They couldn't save everyone, but this was where they'd make the biggest difference.

Neko was asking Kouichirou to weigh the safety of Asuna against the chance of saving several other people, with some probability mixed in. It was right out of a presentation on ethical decisions, and Kouichirou's mind was more split than the ethicist's survey numbers could display.

"I hold my commander to higher standards than this," Neko said after a while. "Remember what I said about goals. What's your goal?"

"To get out of the game with Asuna," Kouichirou responded.

"But does that represent everything, Inkling?" Neko asked.

"No."

"What if I told you Asuna was safe from the mob?"

"What are you saying, Neko?" Agil asked, but Neko ignored him.

A better goal would be to protect everyone around him. Protect them from Prophet's lies and his angry mob. Protect them from Kayaba's death game. Protect them from the manipulation of others, and protect them from falling victim to their ploys. And Kouichirou could do a lot more protecting getting people away from the angry mob than he could ignoring it.

Kouichirou's heart clenched a little and his knees felt weak as he said, "We're getting the natives out of here."

"Good, nice to see my commander can make the right choice."

"Was there really a right choice in that situation?" Agil asked.

Neko pointed to Kouichirou's menu, still open to the last panicked message sent to «The Rat». Just above that string of characters was another message Kouichirou had missed in his haste.

｢Asuna was with me until a few minutes ago. Now in caves with Irae trying to get back to city.｣

Kouichirou's mind buzzed. He began sending frenzied messages to Argo, telling her about what had been said about Irae, and giving instructions on what to tell Asuna. Even if he felt safer knowing Asuna wasn't in the clutches of Prophet's mob or his words, was it really any better to have her under the watch of Irae, a man that was a magnet for Prophet's mob, and could be just as bad?

Neko smiled, oblivious to Kouichirou's doubts. "So, was I helpful? Did all my explanations from before help you make your decision?"

Kouichirou clenched his teeth but didn't look up from his message window. "Why didn't you just point out the message? That would have been a lot more helpful than cryptic advice."

"Two reasons. First, I might not be here for you next time, and you'll have to make the decision yourself. You probably formulated a way better goal than I could make _for_ you. Second, I wouldn't be able to say"—Neko pulled out the panbread left over from the bar—"that my plans really _panned_ out."

A purple hexagon was all that kept Agil's fist from knocking Neko across the plaza.

* * *

 **A/N** : I couldn't resist. This is why Neko is my favourite character, he's the way I play with the tone of the story. Unfortunately, the result was that I turned Agil into a bit of a useless log outside that brief bout on racism. Meh, I'll deal with him later *laughs evilly, advances through three stages to maniacal villain laughter*

This chapter came late for a number of reasons. Firstly, I'm a lazy butt. Second, I got distracted with video games. Thirdly and most importantly, this chapter took a while to plan out. I had no plans going in except that there would be an angry mob sometime in day two. The original plan actually called for Alexis causing the thing, but that's beside the point. I just had some rough worldbuilding ideas, like the fact that the Merchants' Guild was based in the eastern quarter and thus there was a lot more travel and thus more inns there. I then had to work out the details for Prophet's incredibly complex plot. Then, even harder, I had to set up that pun. Jk, that was easy. Puns always _pan_ out well for me.

Shit, I forgot to date the last chapter. That one should have been 2/6/16

10/6/16


	21. Chapter 20

The servant at the front desk rose when he saw Verian step through the threshold, bowing slightly. Verian ignored the gesture as he proceeded through the side door into the narrow hallway.

A couple of guildsmen strolling through the outskirts of the garden saw Verian approach. They stopped their conversation, nodding in his direction and adhering to a respectful silence. As Verian passed another guildsman on the motel-like stairs, another person reacted similarly. Yuuki began to feel that the priest carried with him an aura of important silence, his billowing black robe transforming smoothly from the visible clothing to the invisible fabric. She and her sister were simply clinging to the edges of this aura, dragged along in his wake.

The woman, Aelise, was still keeping guard over Kana's sickly form. Instead of standing, she now sat with her back against the bedside and her legs extended across the floor in front of her. The darkness of the room blended her dark clothing and dark hair into the shadows of the bed. She seemed the shadow of an exhausted sportswoman recovering her strength after a particularly strenuous drill.

Verian ignored her as he moved beside Kana's bed. "How are you feeling?" he asked his patient.

"Little better," Kana croaked.

"This will take a while. Aelise, if you could take care of Yuuki and Ran here, that would be much appreciated. You've already done enough for Kana, and I understand they haven't had their lunch yet."

They hadn't spoken on the way here. Yuuki didn't ask where Verian learned their names.

Aelise pulled herself to her feet with fingers clawing into Verian's side, but the priest paid her no mind. She pushed herself off from him in barely-concealed aggression before marching out the door.

Yuuki looked to Ran, who shrugged before following the woman. Glancing back at the doorway, Yuuki's last sight of Kana's room was dominated by Verian's quickly unpacked equipment, cylindrical containers suspended from the ceiling by invisible threads, each filled with a fluid of some shockingly bright colour.

Aelise was already a few meters away, and Yuuki had to jog to catch up.

Ran hadn't started conversing with Aelise, and the silence pressed around them for a while. This silence was different than Verian's, more an aura of apathy and antipathy emanating from Aelise than the priest's cloak of importance. It was still similar in the way it silenced the one person they passed on their path down the balcony, though the expression on the man's face was more one of fear than respect.

Finally, Ran broke the silence. "Somehow I get the feeling you don't really like Verian."

"He's a pretentious smartass."

"You still called him over, though."

"It's his fault Kana's like she is, and he can help some of the time."

"Verian also said that it was sort of his fault. What happened?"

"It _was_ Verian's fault, no 'sort of' about it."

Aelise stopped. They had followed the balcony in the opposite direction of the stair they'd first used to get here, but here the balcony ended in a door bigger than the rest. Before opening it, Aelise gestured back at the garden still spread out below them, pointing toward the withered section that scarred the otherwise universal beauty of the place.

"See the black spot?"

"Yeah."

"It was put there last night when some spirit appeared out of nowhere to attack Verian. Well, the spirit landed right in front of Kana's room, and she got dragged into the fight."

"So the spirit did that to her?" Ran shivered.

"No, she held the fucker off long enough for half the guild and Verian to show up."

Aelise opened the door and slipped through. Ran caught the door and held it open for Yuuki.

"The issue is that she's a Phantazcian mage," Aelise finished. Then, realizing the twins had no idea what that meant, she added, "It's a type of magic that melts you slowly."

The twins stopped walking for a moment, before snapping back to their senses and rushing down the hallway after Aelise. Kana was melted? She hadn't looked that way, but then again, there hadn't exactly been a lot of light to see by. It also explained Aelise's apparent desperation earlier, but not everyone else's disinterest. Perhaps it was a regular occurrence? Yuuki's stomach turned at the thought.

"I notice you've been awful quiet," Aelise said, flicking her hand toward Yuuki. "What, you let your sister do all the talking while you formulate your evil plans? Or is there one mind between you two that just prefers talking with Ran's mouth?"

"Ran's just better with people," Yuuki said.

"Damn, I was hoping I'd stumbled on something interesting."

"Does it actually happen? Where one mind has two bodies?"

Aelise laughed. Her face transformed a little, losing some of the harshness it bore whenever she was looking at anyone other than Kana. "I suppose you haven't heard all the crazy stories. Well, they probably wouldn't make a lot of sense to you two."

"Why not?" Ran challenged.

"I hear you players have no idea how magic works. Plus, you're a little, well… young for some of the stories."

That only served to deepen Yuuki's curiosity. "What does age have to do with it?"

Aelise buried her face in her hand, making an effort to hold back a laugh.

Yuuki would have gritted her teeth was she not distracted by their sudden entrance into a much more open room filled with movement. Groups of guildsmen talked and ate food at five long tables that stretched the length of the room. A few players were scattered in small knots here and there along the tables' sides, largely keeping to themselves in some awkward fear. Aelise didn't stop, heading straight for one of the tables and sitting down next to a silent man picking at his food in solitude.

"Not like you to have kids in tow," the man commented without looking. His voice was deep and lazy.

"Flari caught me when I really needed someone to go get Verian." Aelise again spoke differently around this man, her tone holding some form of… respect?

"Kana?"

"Yeah."

Yuuki sat down beside Aelise. There wasn't any food here or anything, she didn't know why Aelise sat here without getting any. Maybe it was brought to them? Or perhaps they were here for the man? Yuuki glanced toward him and noticed with a flinch that he was missing two of his fingers. His left ring finger was a stump, and his right pinkie was missing entirely, even the metacarpals. The side of his face was filled with scars, pocks, and piercings that traced a stripe from his chin to his temple. His hair was a short grey stubble that allowed sight of even more scars.

The man ate his food mechanically, pausing to swallow before stating anything. "The eastern quarter's gone to shit."

"Does Alexis know?"

The man nodded. "Players. Can't do anything, at least nothing obvious."

"Ah. Kana's not going to like that."

"Her idea to take them in?"

Aelise nodded this time.

"Uh… are you talking about us?" Yuuki asked.

Aelise smacked her over the back of the head. It was a light smack, nothing that would hurt, but the message was clear.

The man turned his head, the movement mechanical, measured, as if his neck was an axle and his head a wheel sitting on it. Now Yuuki could see his face, she saw the stripe of pocks and piercings traced around the entirety of his thin, expressionless face. His eyes, sunk in deep hollows, were a bruised, patchy red that made it seem he could start crying blood any moment.

"If you want to get a shadow on them before Alexis comes knocking, you know where to find me," the man's voice grated. He stood, the action unnaturally measured, before wrapping himself in his jacket, sparing one last nod for Aelise, before marching away.

"What was that about?" Ran asked over Yuuki's shoulder.

"That was Hessal. Don't get on his bad side."

A guildsman appeared behind Aelise, suited like Jarq and that other servant had been. "Will you be dining here, my lady?" he asked, picking up Hessal's plate and placing it on a tray.

Aelise nodded. "Who's on duty today?" she asked disinterestedly

"Myrden's food today, lady." He placed three loaded plates on the table before offering a slight bow and continuing on.

Potatoes, assorted vegetables, a soft bun without butter. The food was better than the hard buns Yuuki had eaten yesterday, but it still lacked meat.

"You don't choose what you eat?" Ran asked.

"What, you don't want it? I can take it off your hands."

"No, no." Ran quickly began scarfing down food, Yuuki following suit.

The meal had seemed a little disappointing at first, but now flavour exploded in Yuuki's mouth. She'd had good food in «Serene Garden», the last VR game she'd played, but the sense of taste there never quite reached the level of the real world, tastes always seeming a little too salty or too sweet, and textures being a little too similar. The hospital didn't offer the best food either, not that Yuuki got to eat it often. This made the food she was eating right now the best meal she'd had in years.

She'd almost forgotten what it felt like to eat.

"Anyways," Aelise said. "I suppose you're curious, and I'm supposed to educate you or whatnot, so I'll start with this. In the Magicians' Guild, there are three kinds of mages you _always_ respect. Hey, you listening?"

Yuuki's head snapped up, tearing her eyes away from the plate in front of her. She spared a quick nod before continuing her feast.

"I haven't seen someone eat B-cook rations like that in ages." Aelise shrugged. "So, the first kind is an Iwtwal shaman. You can tell them apart because they're usually covered in scars and missing fingers or limbs."

Aelise paused. It was only when Yuuki was jabbed in the shoulder with a fork that she realized Aelise was waiting for a response. Yuuki gulped down a mouthful of potato and asked, "Like Hessal?"

"Yes." Aelise looked at the sisters oddly, as if asking why this food meant so much to them, before continuing. "The next kind is Phantazcian mages. Sometimes you hear them called green mages, but usually the person calling them that gets a boot to the face. They're usually overbearing and colossal messes."

Aelise looked to the twins expectantly again until Ran choked past a mouthful of peas, "Like Kana?"

"Yes, like Kana. Jeez, I'm not sure if I'm dealing with idiots or you two are just starving dogs. Wrap up already."

Yuuki realized the food was almost gone already. She'd wolfed it down perhaps faster than was totally healthy, but she didn't regret it. That meal had been a good one.

Aelise took a few minutes to put a dent in her food with an expression that clearly said her mind was elsewhere. Yuuki thought for a moment, _How can she do that? What could be better than this food?_ before remembering that Aelise's friend was supposedly somewhat melted after having fought a battle against a spirit. Plus, this food must have just been regular for her.

Aelise noticed Yuuki's look and slid her plate down the table toward her. The sisters descended on it like vultures.

"Anyways," Aelise said, standing. "If we're going by what Hessal said, we don't have an awful lot of time. You done?"

Yuuki looked down on the plate between her and her sister. It was already bereft of food. She stood up from the table dejectedly.

"By the way," Ran said, ever in search of conversation for Yuuki to listen in on. "You said there were three kinds of mages to respect. What's the third kind?"

"Sleepless mages. You can tell them apart because they're a little cranky on Mondays, okay for the next few days, and by Friday look like a tap on the shoulder will knock them to the ground. Not to be confused with the apprentices in the theoretical mathematics department."

"Are you a sleepless mage?" Ran asked.

"Are you calling me cranky?" Aelise was already leading the way back through a warren of corridors and hallways.

"Wait, it's Monday?"

"What day did you think it was? Last I heard, the days of the week line up between here and wherever hole you guys came from."

"Well…" Ran mumbled. "We didn't really know what day of the week it was there either."

"Hm." Aelise didn't say anything as they continued traversing stretches of hallway that all looked the same to Yuuki.

A funny detail that Yuuki only noticed now was that the lamps interspersed along the hallways varied in style from one hallway to another.

She decided to ask about it. "Um, Aelise? Do you know where you are by the lamps?" Yuuki gestured to a desk as they passed it.

"No." Aelise seemed bothered by something. In a few more seconds, she finally spoke. "You know, when I pause in the middle of a conversation with a 'hm', I'm waiting for you to continue."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Ran asked.

"Because _you're_ supposed to be the one talking. What, is conversation new to you or something?"

Maybe it was the brief lull in conversation or the awkward expression on Ran's face, Yuuki didn't know, but Aelise took a moment to gather her words.

"Explain," she urged.

"We've sort of been locked up in a hospital for the last few years," Ran said.

"Three years, actually," Yuuki elaborated.

"That explains your eating habits," Aelise said apathetically.

"You act like you don't care," Ran accused.

"I don't really."

"How can you say that?"

"My specialty is in healing, so don't think watching disease take its course is anything new to me. If you go down to the medical department, you can watch people's humanity slide away in the face of it. I ran out of pity for them years ago. The only ones that I still remember or care about are those that continue their work even when they know they're going to die. Some of the patients put themselves there—Phantazcian mages who took on big spells that melted their brains, Iwtwal shaman that just ran out of limbs. A lot of them knew they would end up there eventually. Others were diseased to begin with and wrote entire books in the confines of their rooms. The ones that don't find a purpose for themselves fade away slowly, and no one gives a damn. The ones that continue to face challenges are remembered by the entire ward, no, the entire guild. So tell me, what have you done to deserve my attention? You've just gotten a second chance, away from that hospital of yours, and so far my impression is just a couple of kids with no idea what they're doing, waiting to be ordered around for random errands. About the only good thing I've seen from you is the ability to question and to listen, and all I can hope is that it's indicative of some kind of learning potential."

Silence robed the group again.

Aelise had just called Yuuki's life pointless. Ran's as well. It wasn't like life had been easy for them, it wasn't like they were on a level playing field with everyone else. What could Yuuki have done? Just not get sick? That wasn't her choice. How could Aelise expect her to do something great when she was still learning how to talk to people? It wasn't fair to compare them to everyone else the same way it wasn't fair to compare a monkey and a fish in their ability to climb a tree.

Didn't Aelise's philosophy just say that if you ever gave up, you were useless? Did she just want the fish to keep trying to climb the tree even if it wasn't possible? In Yuuki's mind, Aelise was just wrong. The woman probably hadn't faced challenges like the twins had; all she'd done was watch other people succumb and comment on how pathetic they were. It was disgusting.

"Hey? Quiet one. Are you Yuuki or Ran?"

It took a moment for Yuuki to realize Aelise was calling to her. They were at a door in the middle of another indistinguishable hallway, and Aelise was leaning out of the portal, a hand on the doorknob the only thing keeping her from falling.

"I'm Yuuki," Yuuki said, realizing after she'd spoken that her tone was more than a little icy. She brushed past Aelise.

The room beyond was another open one, though not quite as large as the mess hall they'd just come from. It was unoccupied, but it didn't feel empty the way Verian's temple had. Along one wall was a series of desks and bookshelves, almost like a small section had been cut out of a library and deposited here. On one end of this arrangement was a number of shelves dedicated to candles, multicoloured stones, mirrors, and other random oddities. The rest of the room was left open, like some kind of training room for sportsmen.

"Sorry if I came off a little harsh," Aelise said. The room seemed to have softened her callousness.

She looked to the silent twins, and seemed to realize she'd said something wrong. Yuuki wasn't sure how else Ran's flaming eyes and her own icy-hard glare could be interpreted.

"I see my views are not appreciated. I suppose I'll tell you what I'm going to ask of you, then."

"I thought you disliked us just following orders around," Ran countered.

Aelise stalked over to one of the desks in the library corner of the room as she began explaining herself. "You're about to be taken away by Alexis anyways. Were you listening to what Hessal said?"

"Didn't really make a lot of sense," Ran said, watching Aelise rifle through the drawers of three consecutive desks.

"There you are," Aelise whispered to herself as she pulled a leather bag out of a desk drawer. She looked back to the twins. "To put it in Hessal's words, the eastern quarter is going to shit. Most of the players went there and just haven't left. Now someone's riling them up, and we can't do anything because players are invulnerable in the city until midnight. Actually, there's _one_ thing we can do."

Aelise left the statement hanging, expecting one of the twins to puzzle it out.

What could they do in that position? Yuuki wasn't really sure what the limits of magic were, but evidently it couldn't stop players who had safe-zone protection. If that was the case, the players couldn't be fought, even containing them would be difficult. Anyone without safe-zone protection wouldn't stand a chance—

Yuuki's icy demeanor melted into an expression of understanding. They would send in whoever had protection. "We're going to be sent in."

"Not just you two, probably a few more volunteers. Of course, someone's going to have to stay behind for communication."

"Volunteers? Why don't we get a choice?" Ran asked.

"Because I'm the one volunteering you. Alexis would probably track you down eventually anyways; she's not really the kind of person to forget a face. Now, I'm going to give you an opt-out. Are you going to back away from this?"

Yuuki got the feeling this was some kind of test. Ran looked over to her, raising an eyebrow; she evidently thought the same. Aelise clearly wanted them to go. This opt-out was probably just a gesture of goodwill more than anything else. Should they rise to the bait?

Ran shook her head slightly, but her expression said she didn't consider her own decision final. Yuuki narrowed her eyes and Ran shrugged almost imperceptibly; Ran was just leaving the full weight of the decision on her.

Even if Yuuki disagreed with Aelise's views, this was still an opportunity to do some good. They didn't really have anything else to do, anyway. There was nowhere they could go other than to the dungeon.

Yuuki suddenly felt a surge of helplessness. They'd been wandering through the game without a care in the world, but in less than a day their invulnerability would run out. She and Ran would be weak and without options. For all the scenes and wonders Aincrad had to offer, you couldn't reach any of it without a fight, whether it was Aelise's fight or some other one. The Magicians' Guild wasn't a bad place. They still hadn't really met Kana, but she'd seemed interested in them. Jarq and that other servant who'd sent them after Verian, Hessal, they'd all seemed interesting. Turning away now could mean throwing that away, leaving the twins to fend for themselves.

"We'll go," Yuuki announced. Ran showed her support by moving to stand beside Yuuki.

Aelise nodded, not looking up from her leather bag. She seemed to be searching for something in there; a chain already dangled from her hand with some metal ornament attached to the end. It looked like one of those oversized jacks Yuuki had seen in a box in Alexis's office, but up close it looked more like some religious trinket, sort of like a three-dimensional cross.

"There we are." She pulled out a small empty vial from the bottom of the bag.

"Did you even listen to us?" Ran asked.

Aelise ignored her. "Now, Hessal offered to put a shadow on you, but I'm going to do it myself because I have respect issues. Now, stand still."

The sisters watched Aelise work. First, she took a candle, lighting it and placing it on the ground by the twins' side. Next, she took the empty vial and carefully pulled out the stopper, tilting it over the ground in the shadow the twins cast by the candle's light. Then, still holding the vial in the same position, she held out the chain and stood completely still, waiting for the trinket at the end to stop swinging. After about a minute and a half, she began whispering rapidly, some incantation Yuuki couldn't understand. There weren't any flashing lights or special effects, just the odd image of someone standing very still while holding an empty vial and a spindly jack on a chain. After two minutes of this, the whispering stopped and Aelise put the vial and the chain away.

"Did it work?" Ran asked.

"Should have. Now, it's easy for me to activate remotely, but I'm going to suppose that if you're in a bind you won't have time to write out a message to me. Just in case, if you can just hit four letters next to each other in a message, I'll set it off. Otherwise, you're going to have to get a drop of blood on your shadow."

"Wait, what?"

"The trigger mechanism is spirit magic, and that's always a tough one to set off. Blood is the easiest one, trust me. It has to be one of yours. Being twins is convenient for this, the spirit can't really tell the difference between you two. I can get you a small knife really quick." Aelise darted off to one of the desks and took out a pair of matching knives.

She twirled the knives in her hands before giving one knife to each of the twins. "Now, it only needs a drop, no need to cut off a finger. You're, what, thirteen?"

"Twelve," Ran said. She took the knife and

"That's old enough to handle knives." Aelise began rattling off rules in the uncaring tone of an irresponsible uncle. "Keep 'em up your sleeves or somewhere else you can easily reach. Don't kill each other, and don't kill anyone else unless they seem really well dressed and have way too many 'sh' sounds in their name." She paused. "That was a joke. Really racist, don't repeat it anywhere."

"Ha. Ha." Ran intoned robotically with half-lidded eyes.

"Shut up. Also, watch out for places where your shadow isn't very accessible. I hear that's the most embarrassing way to die when you have such strong magic on your side."

"Are you done?"

A knock came at the door. Aelise quickly grabbed the leather bag she'd dumped on the ground, stowing the last few trinkets in there, and rushing it back to a desk. Her aura of authority and maturity suddenly dissolved into the image of a little girl hiding the evidence of a prank. "Come in," she called.

The door opened to accept Kana into the room. She looked like a wholly different person outside of her room. Bright eyes looked out under blonde locks that constantly seemed to want to fall and obscure her vision, paralleled by an equally bright smile. She was a lot shorter than Aelise, hardly taller than Yuuki herself, a girl who had grown older but not more mature. There were also obvious signs of messiness in her her her clothing, a crumpled and folded blue shirt with sleeves a little too long, and pants that seemed a little scorched around the base of the left leg for some reason.

"Lii, Alexis wanted to call in her econs, and was—" Kana froze when she saw Yuuki and Ran standing in the middle of the open floor, Yuuki still holding her knife. Her stare was met with one of Yuuki's own, and she could tell Ran was doing the same.

"I'm on my way." Aelise shuffled over beside the twins. She whispered to them, "Stay calm, no sudden movements. We can get through this."

"Alii…" Kana almost seemed to groan. "Don't tell me you've been leading them around yourself? Without meeeeee?"

Tension seemed to be filling the room. Yuuki thought she spied Aelise tremble out of the corner of her eye.

"Just getting them, uh, something to eat…"

"In your workspace? Without any plates? And I don't think any food could still be good after sitting in a desk for two days." Kana's smile seemed dangerous and her eyes had a strange gleam to them.

"Well…" Aelise seemed out of words, and Yuuki didn't know what was going on. She turned her head to look to Ran.

"AAAAH! THEY MOVE!" Kana's cry of delight was loud enough to hurt Yuuki's eardrums. "SO CUTE!"

The next thing Yuuki knew, she was on the ground and caught in a crushing death-hug.

* * *

 **A/N** : You know, I sometimes write chunks of the author's note as I write the chapter, just to organize my thoughts. This chapter, I wrote about how I disliked writing Yuuki's perspective because Yuuki and Ran are so directionless and feel so superfluous. They mostly only served as eyes for the reader to get some exposition in. I even had an idea for how I could have done it better. Then, the entire argument basically came up in Aelise's dialogue. Just snapped into place. It's the really long paragraph about how Yuuki and Ran haven't done anything to impress her, and what she respects is determination. It also parallels Irae's speech to Asuna, and does much the same, accelerating their character development and leading into the coming… mess. It was a bit clunky, though.

In other news, there might be new focal characters in the coming chapters. I haven't decided how I want to do it yet, but seeing as there have been several events that just sort of happened in the background, I figure it's time to let the reader (you guys) in on that. I have a spreadsheet, by the way, of what all the characters are doing and where all the chapters start. Colour coded and everything. So I can tell you that there is always several somethings happening at any point in time. The big characters in the background are Vander, Prophet, Glitch, and Verian, along with a few others. It's currently looking like Prophet will get a chapter, but Vander's also on the table. You can tell me which one you want to see, and it might happen if the suggestion comes in time.

And lastly, of course, apologies for another late chapter. This is what, the seventh one running? At least I still average one chapter per week. :/ No guarantees the next chapter will be on Monday, but it will definitely be sometime next week. Hopefully it will come at a more reasonable time than 1 am.

17/6/16


	22. Chapter 21

It took Aelise a couple of minutes to pry Kana off the twins. For someone who had been bedridden less than an hour ago, Kana had surprising strength. Even when Aelise grabber her and hung her over the shoulder fireman-style, Kana still scratched at her back.

"Let me cuddle the cute ones! There's two of them! Aah!"

Comments like these punctuated Aelise's instructions to the sisters. "We're going to Alexis's office, do you know where that is?"

"We've been there," Ran said, "But we have no idea how to get back."

"It's not that difficult. Just follow me."

Aelise, still carrying Kana over her shoulder, led the way out the door. She then proceeded to set Kana back down on her feet.

The shorter mage instantly shot to Ran, draping her arms over the girl's shoulders from behind. She wasn't much taller than Ran, so this wasn't too uncomfortable; she just kept walking like that.

"Kana, did Alexis say _why_ she wanted the econs?" Aelise asked.

Kana managed to shrug without relinquishing her hold on Ran. "I didn't talk with Alexis, it was that apprentice who got hit yesterday."

"Fendrish?"

"Dunno. Verian said he won't get his name back for a couple more days."

"Uhhh… Can someone explain what you're talking about?" Ran asked, nervously trying to get her cheek away from Kana's. Yuuki had to agree; it was irritating to hear people talking but being unable to understand, like trying to listen in on people speaking a different language.

"Friam was the guy who sent you to find Verian," Aelise said. "Yesterday he got hit by the spirit's magic and it made everyone screw up his name. Pretty funny, actually, I think Kana would be great friends with him if he weren't trying to kill her."

"He was actually pretty terrible," Kana rebutted. "Fought like a kindergartener that never learned to be self-conscious or, you know, not an asshole."

They turned a corner and Yuuki spotted someone waiting further down the hallway. He, though it might have been a she, was completely covered in black cloth without any trace of skin. He was one of those shadows that had led them through the alleys last night. As their group drew closer, Yuuki saw that even his eyes were covered with strange goggles that protruded slightly from his cloth mask.

The shadow waited for them as they approached down the hallway.

"It seems you've been called to the meeting as well, but, alas, it is not here. Mayhap we should try a more spacious locale?" The shadow spoke with a strange accent Yuuki hadn't heard in the city before. Indian, perhaps? No, something else. The voice was also rather effeminate, though Yuuki still felt it belonged to a male.

"Lead the way," Aelise sighed.

"You may refer to me as Chandra," he introduced.

"Could I ask what the Assassins' Guild has to do with the summons?"

"While there is no problem in asking, it is in finding an answer that you will stumble."

Yuuki just barely caught Aelise swearing under her breath.

Chandra moved swiftly, and while Aelise and Yuuki had no problem keeping up, Kana was eventually forced to part with Ran to give her the mobility to hurry along. The look on Kana's face was perhaps the most dramatic expression of forlornity Yuuki had seen in Aincrad thus far, more heartbroken even than the players that found themselves separated from loved ones when they discovered their own entrapment.

Then Kana noticed Yuuki looking and instantly brightened.

Chandra led them up a few more flights of stairs, along which Kana began to lag behind the group, and through a few more circuitous hallways. He never said another word the whole way there.

"How does he know where he's going?" Yuuki asked, having completely lost all sense of direction in the circuitous route that wasn't as long as it felt. She felt a little disappointed that Ran hadn't already asked this question for her. Perhaps Ran had already figured out the layout of the building, and Yuuki was just slow?

"It's not that hard to figure out," Aelise said, crushing Yuuki's confidence a little.

"I can show you around later, if you want," Kana offered.

"Sure. When we get back."

Kana looked to Yuuki, tilting her head. "Back from what?"

Aelise explained, "Hessal's suspicion, and her own."

"Why don't you tell me these things?" Kana pouted.

"Because you've been out of bed, what, fifteen minutes?"

"Seventeen."

Yuuki had to suppress a laugh. Somehow the end of that exchange sounded too much like one between herself and Ran. Aelise and Kana looked too different to be sisters, but they must have had some similarly close relationship.

"Here we are," Chandra interrupted, coming to a door at the end of a hallway. It struck Yuuki that for all the hallways she'd been rushing through in this building, this was the first time she'd come to the end of one; they all seemed to end in intersections with other hallways. Not here. The double doors were larger and more ornate, screaming out to the world that this room was more important than all the offices and workspaces in the building. Carved onto each door was, interestingly, a massive, piercing-lined, long-lobed ear. Chandra gently pushed on the right door's carved tragus with two fingers, and the door swung open.

Inside was a large room, perhaps a conference or planning room. A large table dominated the central floorspace, seats arranged around it. Across from the door was a large floor-to-ceiling window bisected by a narrow piece of wall with some sort of shrine set in front of it. The rest of the room was a rococo display of craftsmanship, elegant designs tracing the contours of the room, eddies forming in the corners.

Several people were already arrayed about the room, only a few of which Yuuki recognized. At the far side of the table was Alexis, long red hair pulled back to stay out of her face, leaning over a map on the table. Speaking at her side was a man Yuuki didn't know, dressed in fairly lavish red and gold clothing. Judging by the glasses he wore, the calculating eyes, the ink stains on his sleeves, and the general air of an intellectual, he was the brains behind whatever was happening here. Standing tall on his other side, listening to his words more carefully than Alexis, was Verian, his face totally neutral as he watched the door. Further away from these three was an assortment of mages and apprentices, guildsmen subordinate to the three people staring intently at the map. There were a few faces Yuuki recognized, but she didn't know the names of any aside from Hessal, who hung back on Alexis's side of the table.

Aelise and Kana moved to the same general area as Hessal

Chandra moved to stand beside Verian, asking, "The troops are assembled, but the commander is lacking. Where is Vander?"

"Probably bribing the garrison," the planner responded. He made a few marks on the map with a thin brush. "Alexis, have you solved the communication problem?"

"Yes, though I'm not sure if we'll be able to pull off communication with the south. All the players are still here."

"Gah, I hate waiting on you idiots. If Vander doesn't show up in five minutes, I swear, I'm starting without him."

"Do you have any idea what's going on?" Ran whispered in Yuuki's ear.

"From what I can tell, the guy in the middle wearing red is the mom of the group. He's telling everyone else to get their act together."

"Not far off from the truth," Kana added, also whispering.

Verian spoke for the first time. "I hear many footsteps approaching at once."

"I don't," the planner replied bluntly.

"That's because you're deaf. It's probably our messengers,. I'm afraid we don't have one to communicate through that thick skull of yours," Alexis said.

The planner just sighed grumpily in response. "I want two operators in this room. Infiltrators work in pairs. Now organize."

The double doors swung open to Jarq and the nameless guildsman leading an assortment of players and mages. The mages were probably sponsors, judging by the fact that each walked close to a player and there were significantly fewer of them. The players in the group didn't represent the entirety of those taken in by the guild, but there were quite a few of them. The age distribution was shifted up slightly from this morning, probably because the youngest players wouldn't have been allowed to participate. Plus, Yuuki saw it as possible that the older players would easily pressure each other into volunteering, seeing it as some kind of test

Alexis had already walked around the large table and directed them to the side opposite Yuuki's. "Alright, I need you to pair off and sort yourselves. Those that can think under pressure, communicate quickly, and are willing to volunteer themselves for the interesting stuff, raise your hand."

The players stayed silent.

Yuuki felt a light shove. "Go," Aelise whispered.

Ran raised her hand first. Yuuki followed suit, but didn't raise her hand nearly as high. Simultaneous nudges from Kana and Ran prompted her to move her hand above her shoulder. Alexis didn't see her nervous display, still looking the other way. It took a signal from Chandra to turn Alexis around and notice the twins.

"What are you doing over there? Get over here. Anyone else?"

Another girl raised her hand as the twins crossed to the other side of the table. Yuuki recognized her as Merida. It seemed the girl was spurred by watching Yuuki, someone she'd spoken with, volunteer, even if the boy standing beside her seemed somewhat unhappy about it. Once two battleteams had volunteered themselves, a few more hands tentatively rose. One hand shot straight up, confusing Yuuki. Why would that person be so enthusiastic if they'd waited for others to go first? She couldn't see the owner of that hand, but she supposed it was someone to look out for in future.

The planner waited until Alexis was done before butting in with his comment. "You're all idiots for volunteering, I hope you know that."

"Stop trying to put people on the same level as you, Eszes," Alexis replied easily. She turned back to the players. "I suppose your sponsors should have told you what you volunteered you for, but just in case I'll repeat: the players in the east of the city have risen up and are now killing anyone that doesn't have safe zone protection. We want you to help us contain the damage."

The players nodded. Worryingly, a few looked surprised, but these were few and largely younger players who would be held back, away from the fighting.

The room was fairly silent, and that allowed Yuuki the chance to hear approaching footsteps. They were slow, leisurely, but something about the way a few people in the room reacted to the sound let Yuuki know the footsteps belonged to someone important.

The door swung open.

In strode a single man carrying with him the feeling of authority. A long red cloak with gold trim hung over a black, double-breasted frock coat. He walked around the table, passing very close to Yuuki. Up close, she saw there was nothing special about his appearance; he wasn't very tall and didn't look particularly strong, his face was aged and his hair was showing the first few strands of grey.

When he was at his closest to the twins, he stopped. It wasn't really a full stop, more a slight pause so brief Yuuki was probably the only one in the room to notice. His head turned a fraction of a degree as if he'd heard something inaudible to everyone else. These movements were lost on the whole room, but to Yuuki they seemed obvious, and the man seemed to notice her look. Nothing came of it, though; he simply carried on to take his place beside the planner, Eszes.

The silence had stiffened on the appearance of the man, though Yuuki wasn't sure if it was because of some respect, authority, or fear. It hung in the air for a moment.

Chandra was the first to shatter it. "The leader comes with only one hand. Where is Estelle?"

"She won't be joining us," the newcomer said. "Now, if we may begin."

It was difficult to tell with his face covered in cloth, but Yuuki guessed Chandra was somewhat irate. "Have you sent her to collect the man, Irae?"

Yuuki's ears twitched, and Ran jerked slightly. _Why is everyone so concerned with Irae?_

"I have removed him from the city for now."

"A strange way of keeping promises."

Earlier, when Aelise and Kana had spoke like this, Ran had interrupted them and asked for an explanation. Now, though, the mood in the room seemed a gag on the twins, keeping them from doing the same. Yuuki couldn't even be sure if this meant Yuuki was safe, or who was on his side. She could guess that the man's name was Vander, based off Chandra's comments.

"The decision was left to me, and I made it. Irae may prove useful in the future; acting prematurely is hardly wise. Now, Eszes, what have you laid out so far?" Vander's tone left no room for argument.

Eszes pulled some coins from his pocket, copper coins that definitely weren't Cor. He laid them out on the map as markers, explaining, "The riot started at a rally right outside the bank. From what I understand, the rioters spread out from there while those behind the rally took up positions in the bank itself." Eszes looked to Chandra.

Chandra spoke again, "We lost twelve pupils acquiring that information; we have none left in the area. We _do_ know who was inside when the maw of chaos opened, however. Telkes, Groenmann, Petres, some minor merchants and guildsmen, and… the _anomaly_."

Eszes cut him off with a wave of his hand, not even looking up from the map. "There's already very little we can do about the eastern quarter, at least within this line." He traced a perimeter on the map which Yuuki couldn't see. "So our goals are to evacuate everyone immediately outside that line, and prevent them from crossing our perimeter here." He traced another line. "We can't engage them directly, so we're going to keep the garrison in the back building barricades where they can while our mages work closer to the front to make walls and if need be push them back." As he explained, he was laying out coins on the map. "We don't have enough people to cover the entire perimeter, and with the Merchant Guild's mercenaries on who knows what side, this can turn nasty pretty quick. Alexis already brought up the fact that we can use her players to get to the inside, exploiting their own safe zone protection, to gather information. The rest can just be message relays for our squads. Alexis, get over here, I want those players deployed as quickly as possible."

Alexis returned to her place at the table, looking over the map from Vander's other side. It took just a few moments for Eszes to point out a few locations and for Alexis to return to the players.

"Okay, Those volunteering to be independent, over here," she mumbled, gesturing to one side. "I also need some fast readers and typers to be our communicators in this room and for me, anyone volunteering?"

The players broke themselves into two groups, but no one raised their hands. Alexis sighed. "Foenix? Can you sort this out?"

The nameless guildsman nodded and began working his way through the unvolunteered players. Because most of the older players had volunteered to work autonomously, he was dealing with more children and stood a little taller than most of them.

"So," Alexis said, gesturing for Yuuki's group to move closer to the map. "You all heard Eszes's explanation. Your job is to get inside the angry mob and report on where all those players are going. Save a few lives if you can, but remember, catching sight of major movements might save more lives than helping a single person escape. It's a tough decision, yes, but you have to be prepared to make it. If some of you can find your way to some nice rooftops with a good view, that would be excellent. Yuuki and Ran, I'm volunteering you for the task of getting inside the bank and listening in on the commanders."

Yuuki's heart jumped. She looked to the others in the group. Their faces were a mix of those that hardened in determination and twitched in surprise or confusion, but it seemed no one was willing to back down now and no one who seemed ready to take on her task. Ran didn't seem that bothered by it, and to be fair, Aelise had told them enough that she was half expecting something like this to happen eventually. At the same time, Aelise had also helped work them into this mess. If she hadn't made Yuuki the first volunteer, it would be much easier to be the first to back down.

Yuuki looked to Ran, and saw a similar face of determination. Perhaps Ran had just figured everything out faster than her, or perhaps the entire group held itself in a state of determination through sheer peer pressure. Yuuki wasn't sure until she caught the hint of a smile on Ran's face, conveying just enough nervousness and awkwardness for Yuuki to know their thoughts weren't so foreign to each other.

These thoughts only took a fraction of a second, after which Alexis was speaking again. She was, using the map as a guide, explaining the best places to get to the rooftops; how the rooftops connected; pointing out the bank and other possibly important locations; their perimeters. She quickly explained what was likely going on in the bank and finally she zones to each group.

Yuuki tried to pay attention, but she was too nervous to remember everything. Maps and directions were Ran's specialty, and it wasn't likely they would have to worry about every way to the rooftops. What Yuuki made sure to listen for, however, was Merida's assignment. They hadn't spoken much, but Yuuki felt some kind of connection with her after messaging with her on the way to Verian's temple and for following her and her sister's lead in volunteering. Merida and her partner were told to watch an area directly north from the bank, and to act as a backup group for getting inside should Yuuki and Ran fail.

Alexis dismissed them and a nod from the nameless guildsman told her that the other players had been briefed as well.

"Fosseaux," Alexis said, "Take a few of their sponsors and lead the players out of the guild. We want things going smoothly, and I'd rather no one got lost until they were at least most of the way there."

"Before that," Verian called from Eszes's other side, "They should all add each other to their friends list, shouldn't they?"

"Yes, do that," the nameless guildsman said. He pointed out a boy and girl pair a little younger than Yuuki. "These two are our connection to you, make sure you get them and at least a few others."

Some of the hard determination seemed to ebb from Yuuki's group as they all had to interact with people again. Ran quickly rapidfired a few friend requests to those close by, Yuuki doing her best to keep up. The next few moments were a blur of names that slid through Yuuki's mind without sticking. Merida's partner pushed through the throng to give a friend request, but Yuuki couldn't tell his name from the list. An older boy, perhaps sixteen or a little older, nodded politely as he sent a friend request, and Yuuki remembered his username ended in 'ser', but the rest of the name was hidden behind another window. Her hand twitched in the air as she spammed the «Accept Request» button, and she missed the rest of it.

A few moments later, their crowd shifted, everyone got the names of at least six members of the other group on their friends list, and they were pushed from the room. This all happened quickly, but it was the sheer amount of things happening, not the speed, that truly disoriented Yuuki. Her eye always caught faces, and there were just too many in her vision at once to keep track of.

In the span of just a few minutes, everyone here had gone from just being a bystander at a meeting to being the agents, the soldiers, sent out by the commanders in the room at the end of the hall. Yuuki guessed that a lot of games aimed at teenage boys must have begun something like this, but in a VR death game with so little they could be sure of…

A hush fell over the group as they walked, a fast walk verging on jogging. Yuuki spent this time trying to breathe, calming herself. She looked to the people close to her. Their faces were returned to their masks of determination, but with her cleared mind Yuuki saw something else in them. They weren't hard, they were brittle. These were facades that might crack at any moment, and it was only the togetherness of the group or some other invisible force that was holding them together. Even if they were in a safe zone, even if there wasn't objectively any danger, everyone here was still fearful.

Yuuki realized she was, too.

* * *

 **A/N** : Eszes, Telkes, and Petres are pronounced with a 'sh' sound at the end. They're Hungarian, or based off Hungarian names, and no, I am not basing this off historical figures. I just needed names that were distinct from the standard French- and Germanic-sounding names. So, 's' makes a 'sh' sound, 'sz' makes more of a 's' sound, and those are the only important ones in these three names. Quick fun fact—Hungarian is part of a different language family entirely than most European languages. It's more closely related to Finnish and Estonian, and the language family originates more from the Ural mountain region in Russia. Yay learning.

On to the chapter itself. I decided to have one more setup chapter before really starting the colossal battle that will be happening for the next several chapters. This chapter finally lets us see into Vander's gang so we have faces to put on the side that will play a major part from here on. There's also some good setup for Yuuki, with information on getting around and what she's doing and some looking around and friend requests and stuff. However, I felt the chapter went by a little too quickly at the end. Sure, it reflects the chaos of what's happening and contrasts with the slower pace of Aelise and Kana's dialogue, but it still felt wrong writing it. Oh well, let me know what you think.

And the schedule. I went on a trip with some friends and missed an upload. I might be able to just write so quickly that I make up the lost chapter soon, or it might not happen. The chapters will be uploaded when they're ready. Even if that is 2:20 am. :P

28/6/16


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